Battle of the Shikon
by Ithil Hareth
Summary: After a battle with a demon of Naraku, Miroku discovers the secret to killing Naraku once and for all. Unfortunately, it requires the death of Kagome. Will InuYasha let her make the ultimate sacrifice? How will Kagome deal with this plan? CH 7 UP!
1. Fatal Solution

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.

**Chapter 1: Fatal Solution**

The blue of the afternoon sky had a peaceful feel to it. Soft clouds drifted in and out of view between the closely grown forest trees surrounding the path. A faint rumble echoed from further back, making the leaves of the trees shuffle with a strange wind that forced the birds to the air. The group of travellers on the path stopped their walk to turn towards the noise. It seemed like a very strange group at first sight with three humans, one hanyou and two smaller youkai.

"What was that?" a young girl nervously asked. Her long raven-black hair hung below her shoulders beside a full quiver and bow. She wore a white sweater with a green over-cloth and a short green skirt. On her shoulder was one of the small demons, a child kitsune in an aqua-coloured haori, fur vest, and a dark blue hakama.

The hanyou of the group, a silver haired dog hanyou with a red kimono, set his golden eyes at the direction of the noise. He paused for a moment to sniff the air before answering. "It's just some weak demon," he said with a shrug, though absent-mindedly placing a hand on the hilt of a feeble looking sword at his hip.

"Let's not trouble ourselves disposing of it, if it's as weak as you say," voiced another, a violet and black clad houshi of the group. "We still have a long way to go if we want to find a village before nightfall." He shifted the staff in his hands to his other shoulder, the golden rings clinging.

The last human of the group, a taijiya from the Hiraikotsu that was strapped to the back of her pink kosoda and green mo-bakama, nodded in agreement. A small neko-youkai sat in the crook of her arm, mewing softly. "I agree with Miroku. We shouldn't waste our strength dealing with lesser demons," she said, though her eyes were set towards the source of the rumble.

The hanyou glanced back at the direction of the demon for a moment before suddenly blinking and sniffing the air again. "Wait...I know that scent! It's Naraku!" the hanyou exclaimed, now clenching his fist around the sword hilt.

Immediately the rest of the group became more alert. "What? Are you sure, InuYasha?" the young miko, Kagome, said. Her eyes locked upon the direction of the noise.

"I'd know that stench anywhere!" he insisted, scowling darkly.

"It must be a rejection demon of Naraku," explained the houshi. "Naraku, or even one of his incarnates, could never expose themselves if they were this weak."

The taijiya shifted uncomfortably. "But what is one of Naraku's rejected demons doing out here? Wouldn't Naraku have killed it before letting it go?"

Before anyone could answer, the hanyou tensed and threw out his arm as if to stop anyone from moving beyond him. "It's coming closer," he warned. "Stay back, Kagome!" The rest of them tensed as well. They didn't move, but the feeling of wait was like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.

Finally the distant image of the demon came into view as it tore free of the darker part of the forest. It took the shape of a young woman in a black kimono calmly walking along the path. She was quite beautiful in human terms with midnight black hair that fell almost to her ankles. However, her beauty was spoiled by three threatening grey-coloured spikes that stuck out of her spine and through the back of her kimono. Brutal scars also covered her arms and trailed up from her neck to her chin. Her eyes were as red as blood torn from the body and a long oval mirror sat it her hands, its curled rim the same colour as her eyes. Instead of reflecting the clearing's floor or afternoon sky above, the glass seemed to swirl with a distant shadow.

Kagome blinked in surprise at the sight of the demon. Its appearance was at obvious strong odds with what they had expected. "InuYasha, are you sure that's the demon? It looks much stronger than you said," she said, slowly nocked one of her arrows to her bow to be on the safe side. "And there's a demonic aura coming from it, but...it's different somehow..."

InuYasha frowned and unsheathed his sword with a flash of light. Taking the giant blade in both hands, he steadied it for battle. "Of course I'm sure. If it is an escaped rejection of Naraku, it's probably trying to hide from him by making a disguise."

The houshi sighed sadly to himself. "It's a pity for the scars and spikes," he murmured to himself, though it almost seemed as if he hadn't realized he had spoken aloud. Unfortunately for him, the taijiya heard his words.

"What was that?" she hissed threateningly at him, free hand curling into a fist and face into a cold frown.

"Why, nothing at all, my dear Sango," Miroku answered sweetly, waving his hand in dismissal.

"Oh, save it!" Sango growled, narrowing her eyes at him and half raising her fist as if to punch him with it.

InuYasha growled in his throat. "Enough talk. Let's just kill this thing and get going already!" he called back as he began his sprint towards the demon. The demon rushed towards him as well, raising its oval mirror to eye-level. A strange noise was coming from it, like the shrieks of dying men and women; in its mouth it could only be described as hysterical laughter

"Be careful, InuYasha!" Kagome called out, taking a step forward, her chocolate brown eyes full of worry.

"What an idiot, always rushing into a battle without any thought," the little kitsune mumbled absently, scratching his head in disappointed thought.

They watched from afar as InuYasha neared the demon. Slowing slightly, he raised his sword over his head and began to yell, "WIND--!" when a sudden thudding wave came from the mirror and shot through the air. It passed by InuYasha and rushed into the distance towards the rest of them. InuYasha froze in his tracks, eyes staring at the mirror and mouth soundlessly hanging open. Surprise was planted on his still face as clear as his nose.

"What's going on?" Sango demanded, shocked by the scene. InuYasha never froze like that in a battle. Never.

"InuYasha!" Kagome screamed and began to run towards the hanyou, Shippou tumbling off her shoulder and falling to the ground. Sango and Miroku called out her name in surprise, but pursued without a pause. InuYasha still didn't move from his spot, though his entire body seemed to be shaking as if convulsing. The woman youkai was laughing darkly, her voice still the echo of shrieking villagers. Kirara transformed into her larger form after a flash of fire as they hurried on. The nearer they got, the harder it seemed to be. It was almost as if an invisible wall was trying to push them back. Finally they reached InuYasha's side and Kagome's hand had just touched his shoulder when the three of them froze in their tracks as well.

Each had their gazes locked upon the mirror, the earthly light of their eyes vanishing as if their minds were possessed. The black shadow of the mirror was swirling within the glass, forming into something. Something was hidden beyond the dark swirl, different to each of their eyes... The woman youkai continued to laugh and began pacing forward towards them as their visions darkened...

In Kagome's eyes, fear grasped every length of her mind. Her face was twisted in a frightened frown and her body shook with the terror that seeped into her. _'The mirror...why can't I move? What...what is it doing to me?'_ she thought desperately. She tried to look away, but it seemed as if she had completely left her body.

For a long time, nothing happened. All Kagome could see was eternal blackness, trying to swallow her up. She would have moved her eyes if she could, but it was as if the blackness was scratching at her memory, trying to make her forget that there was an outside world. After what felt like years, a distant picture formed inside the mirror, slowly approaching her until it filled her vision. She felt the resistance in her mind fade and her thoughts with it.

The figure in the picture was herself, laying sprawled out beside the Bone Eater's Well. Rain from a black sky was pounding down upon her motionless body and a cold wind was sweeping across the yellow grass. There was a terrible slash across her throat, like the slit of a sword. Dark blood trailed out, covering the grass beside her and staining the hair that covered her lifeless eyes. Beside her was another figure... At first she didn't recognized the silver-haired man, though she knew she felt a connection to him. _'InuYasha...'_ she remembered. Yes, that was his name. InuYasha was kneeling beside her. The hilt of his Tetsusaiga peeked out of his hand. She couldn't see where the blade was pointed to, but she didn't need to. Somehow she knew that the blade was stabbed through InuYasha's chest, directly at his heart. One of her hands was clasped in his own, blood trailing down her wrist as his claws dug into her flesh. Her body outside the mirror trembled, but it felt as if it belonged to someone else, like the distant thunder of a far away storm. If she could have moved her arm to her face, he would have felt her cheeks damp with silent sobs.

_'You look upon your future, pathetic wench.'_ The womanly voice was so sudden Kagome nearly fell despite being bound by the spell of the mirror.

_'No...'_ Kagome thought. The resistance was returning, distant in the back of her mind. She could almost feel her body again, but it still remained motionless. InuYasha would never kill her...he'd never do that, he'd never harm her...

_'Yes...give in to my spell...agony...fear...pain...sweet pain...it is you're future, wench...you cannot fight it.'_ The voice was so seductive. It was so smooth and calming, like a whisper of a breeze ensnaring her. The resistance shook and almost gave away.

_'No...you're lying...'_ Kagome sobbed, only half believing her words. _'No! I can't believe you! I won't believe you!'_ The resistance strengthened bit by bit and the feel of her own flesh distantly returned to the back of her mind. _'You're lying! I'm stronger than this!'_ She knew it now, the woman was lying...she knew it! She had to fight, resist, never give in no matter what! Never give in!_ 'I won't let you hurt InuYasha! I will not let you hurt InuYasha!'_ Each thought pounded against the unseen barrier that hid her from the real world. Each time she refused, it pounded a little harder. By the last, she was throwing all her strength against it, desperately screaming out the names of each of her friends in her mind. _'I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT INUYASHA!'_ The barrier shattered...

...and her knees gave way.

Collapsing to the ground, she sucked in air, sweet air. Still, it took her a moment to realize that her breath had been locked away from her. Holding a hand to her throat, she looked up through bleak eyes and nearly screamed at the sight that awaited her. The woman youkai was standing not a hair from her face, glaring down at her with hatred deeper than she could even suspect from Naraku. The spikes on her back seemed to flare and a fire was born within every visible scar, giving off a foul heat. The woman opened her mouth wide and let out a mindless shriek in fury and one of her hands left the rim of her mirror and swooped down at Kagome's face.

Acting before she even realized it, Kagome raised her left hand and stabbed at the woman's arm with the arrow she just realized she still held. The woman shrieked again and fell sideways as the pure pink light of Kagome's powers attacked the demon's own power. Still the woman shrieked and tried to crawl backwards, bent over her arm as if to cringe around the wound. Not a moment later, the tip of Miroku's staff slammed with full force into the glass of the mirror. The glass shattered and fell to the ground like an oozing blood. The woman shrieked even louder and her entire body slammed forcefully into the ground. She let the empty rim of the mirror fall to the broken glass pieces. Unable to crawl backwards any further, avoiding InuYasha's sword became futile as it came free and cleanly tore her down the middle. Her remaining shrieks died down as the youkai crumbled into dust.

All around her, Kagome's friends fell to their knees as well, all gasping for air. She gave a heavily relieved sigh, surprised by her grin. She waited patiently as her friends regained their breaths before slowly climbing back to her feet. Her body felt strangely weak, though she had barely done much.

"I saw..." Sango whispered. Tears streamed down her face in strong flows. Her eyes were closed tight and her arms wrapped around herself. The Hiraikotsu lay abandoned at her side. "I saw myself...I was laying on Kohaku's grave and...th-there was a spear in my back, with my own hand on it..." Her words crumbled away as she let the sobs renew.

Shippou came towards Kagome with a lost expression planted on his face. Kagome bent to pick him up and hugged him close to her chest. Tiny sobs emitted from him as he whispered his own supposed future. "There was a girl, a young human girl...I was as old as InuYasha is now...I...I had my arms around her to p-protect her, but..." he gave a loud sniff, "...There was an arrow in both our throats..."

"It's okay, Shippou. It was just a demon. She lied to us to try and get us to weaken...none of the futures we saw will happen, I promise..." Kagome whispered back. If only she could be half as sure about her words as she sounded. Shippou gave another loud sniff, snuggling his face into her shoulder.

"Is everyone all right?" Miroku asked quietly, dusting himself off with a sullen look on his face. He seemed to be avoiding looking at his arm with the Wind Tunnel so hard that it was an obvious effort. Laying his hand around Sango's shoulders, he gently lifted her to her feet.

"InuYasha?" Kagome spoke softly. The hanyou was still bent on the ground, his sword back to its original form and in its sheath. His hands were on the ground for balance, but it was almost as if he was trying to avoid touching the sword at all. His silver bangs covered his face, but not the shaken frown above his chin. Still clutching Shippou to her, she came closer to the hanyou and kneeled beside him. "Hey, InuYasha? Are you okay?" She raised a hand to touch his shoulder, but he quivered and shrank away from it.

"Kagome..." he whispered. "You were dead by my Tetsusaiga...I held your hand while I killed myself right after..." The words were simple, but they struck her heart like cold steel. He had had the same vision? The notion made her shiver violently.

"Don't worry, InuYasha. Nothing like that could ever happen. I know you would never dream of doing something like that. The demon was lying," she said in attempted comfort. "That's how I broke free. I refused to believe her and I...I kept saying to myself that I wouldn't let her hurt you..."

At that he lifted his gaze to look at her. She blushed deeply, embarrassed at her words yet proud she had managed to get them out. Gold locked with chocolate brown for a moment before tearing away to be hidden by silver bangs once more. He rose to his feet and turned away from her. "We should get going," he said calmly as if the entire ordeal hadn't happened.

"Wait, InuYasha," Miroku cut in. Still holding Sango's shoulders, he turned to look at the broken mirror rim and the dust of the dead youkai. "Perhaps if we study this a little more, we could learn something useful. It isn't often that we have a demon, even a rejection, of Naraku to examine." He glanced at Sango for a moment before she nodded hesitantly. Letting go of her, Miroku approached the ashes of the demon and bent down beside them.

"What could there possibly be to find?" InuYasha growled. His face still had the sullen frown. "It isn't like Naraku would keep secrets about himself in a weak demon and then let it escape from him."

"Still, InuYasha, the smallest clue would be a great help," Miroku said absently, eyes intently probing at the ashes and mirror. "We haven't been able to--" he cut himself off all of a sudden. His eyes were wide as he stared at the ashes as if they had suddenly grown wings and flown a foot off the ground.

"What is it, Miroku?" Kagome asked, peeking over his shoulder at the ashes. Instead of pointing at something at the ashes, Miroku suddenly turned and stared at Kagome with the same wide eyes. "Miroku?" she blinked.

"Naraku never...we always knew...and..." he mumbled to himself, "...and Kagome, your..." He swung his eyes back at the empty mirror rim. "...It couldn't be..."

"What the hell are you rambling on about, Miroku?" InuYasha irritably demanded.

Miroku suddenly seemed to be pulled out of his daze and stared at InuYasha as if he had just seen him for the first time. The houshi's eyes held a strange combination of utter horror and fear, something quite rare for Miroku. "We have to leave. Right now. We need to find somewhere secluded. I...I believe I've just uncovered something important..." He gazed around them as if looking for something in the trees. "There might be spies of Naraku about. We cannot afford to have him hear this."

Before any of them could say another word, Miroku herded them away from the clearing, completely forgetting about the ashes and mirror rim. An uneasy wind blew through the forest, lifting the ashes into the air. The sky didn't seem as peaceful as it had a short while ago.

In the midst of the forest, the figure of a young woman with deep red eyes and short black hair tied up with two feathers glared heatedly at the group as they hurried away from view. A few buzzing yellow insects fluttered about her, their tiny eyes surrounded by an unpleasant black-violet. _'What are they up to?'_ she wondered. _'What could have the monk found? Naraku would never hide a secret in the corpse of a demon. It must have been something else...'_

Naraku hadn't necessarily sent her to spy on the group. He had sent the Saimyoushou for that. She had just been here to watch the action. Sadly, there had been a pathetically small amount of that as well. Naraku should know by now that the wench's mind was a lot stronger than it seemed. What else could he have had expected besides defeat? The wench would not fall for a simple scare of what was in that mirror the demon had stolen.

_'Yet that monk did seem to have discovered something urgent. If it wasn't a secret of Naraku, what was it? Could it possibly have been...?'_ No, the thought was absurd. After all this time, how could a simple monk suddenly realize the way to finally destroy Naraku? The possibility was so small; it would have earned Naraku a loud roar of laughter. But then why was it she did not simply dismiss it and return to Naraku? It couldn't be hope. No, it simply couldn't. After Sesshomaru refused to kill Naraku for her, why should she put even a sliver of hope that those fools had thought of something? Sesshomaru was much stronger than them, that was obvious. No, it couldn't be hope.

Still, the thought wouldn't die and she soon found herself hurrying after them on her flying feather. Part of her told her what she was doing was utter foolery, but another part said that she might find something interesting here. Apparently the Saimyoushou hadn't felt the same way as her as they had gone back to Naraku. She didn't realize it at the time, but she should have felt immense relief.

Further away from the hurrying wind youkai, a beautiful woman in a white haori and red hakama stood watching. Her long black hair hung elegantly in a folded white cloth beside a full quiver. A longbow was in one hand while the other was upturned to the belly of a strange white floating serpent.

"Interesting..." she muttered to herself before turning away and sliding into the shadows of the forest.

For the group, the day passed by quickly, though fruitlessly for the first little while. The group found no villages to stay at for the night, but luck struck in just after the first few moments of nightfall came. A small hut of an abandoned farm came into view just beyond the next grove of trees. Dead plants littered the long rows of dull grey soil, but the hut seemed strong enough to hold them for the night. Filing into it, they sat down in a circle, everyone's eyes intent on Miroku.

"So what did you drag us here for, monk?" InuYasha growled, seating himself in a corner with folded arms and sword propped up against the wall beside him.

Miroku didn't answer straight away. At first he seemed to simply be trying to find a comfortable seat, taking great care in placing his staff on his shoulder, but his movements spoke of strong hesitation. This was most unlike Miroku. What was wrong with him? When InuYasha began impatiently drumming his fingers on his sleeve, the houshi let out a deep sigh.

"Miroku?" Sango asked softly, carefully running her fingers along Kirara's head. Ever since the encounter with Naraku's demon earlier that afternoon, Kirara had stayed very close to Sango, closer than usual. She also seemed to growl angrily at the slightest unfamiliar shadow as if it were trying to sneak up on Sango.

Finally Miroku looked back up at them, gazing at each of them in turn. Kagome might have imagined it, but he seemed to have paused on her a moment longer than the others. "All right," he began. He paused for a moment as if searching for the right words. Seeming to give in to something, his shoulders slouched and he breathed out the words. "I believe I have uncovered how to finally kill Naraku." The silence was unbelievably loud.

"What? How?" Kagome finally managed to croak out. Shippou felt strangely stiff in her arms. He had to be as shocked by this the same as any of them.

Miroku gazed at her with a terribly pitiful look. "You must understand that this is only a theory and I may be completely wrong," he said nervously.

"Just spit it out already!" InuYasha demanded, hands unconsciously curled into fists.

Miroku nodded and dropped his gaze to the small fire placed in the centre of their circle. "Very well," he mumbled after a moment. "After the battle, I...I began to think about how remarkably human that demon looked," he ignored Sango's heated glare, "And then I remembered what Sango had told me a little while ago after Kohaku died." The pain of the memory was mostly diminished, now that Sango had found peace in her brother's death. They were now at a point where speaking of it was easier than it had once been. "It contained no new information besides what we already know, but it made me think. Sango, you said that the only thing Kohaku knew about Naraku was that he absorbed demons to gain their powers and used his barrier to hide himself from us." Sango nodded in agreement. "Well, it suddenly occurred to me to wonder why Naraku only absorbed demons. Humans have strengths as well, yet we've never witnessed him trying to absorb one into his body."

"That's because he doesn't need any more human blood in him. He wants to be a full demon, not a half demon," InuYasha cut in.

"Yes, that's what we've always believed. But what if there is another reason underneath? Physical strength cannot help Naraku very much, but there are other human strengths he might have wanted. For example, spiritual powers like those of a priestess or monk. Yet Naraku cannot have those powers because having them would destroy him."

"What are you saying, Miroku? Kagome has tried using her priestess powers on Naraku before," Sango commented. "They destroy pieces of him, but nothing would destroy him all at once. He would just regroup his flesh."

Miroku nodded sadly. "That is true, but one thing we have never thought of before is trying to kill Naraku from a different perspective. We have always tried to attack him from the outside, but we have never tried his own tactics and attack from the inside."

"Naraku attacks his enemies by using their emotions and souls against them. Naraku doesn't even have a heart, so what could there possibly be to attack?" InuYasha insisted, frowning deeply.

Miroku's patience waned slightly, but he contained himself by frowning back at InuYasha. "It's Kagome," he said calmly as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Turning around, he looked straight at the young miko.

Kagome blinked and stared at him as if he had gone mad. "Me? What do I have to do with anything?"

Miroku took a deep breath with closed eyes as if to prepare himself for what he was about to say. Looking back at Kagome with the same calm expression, he searched for the right words. "Kagome...you are a spiritual being. Both your body and your soul. Attacking Naraku from the outside would do nothing to him as a whole, but perhaps if you attacked him from the inside--"

"Wait, Miroku..." Kagome interrupted in a rather shaken voice. "Do you mean that...are you saying that I...?" She stared at the houshi with wide fear-filled eyes. Miroku frowned sadly, though never breaking their shared gaze. He nodded slowly.

"What is it?" InuYasha said, looking back and forth between them. "What?"

Kagome suddenly seemed to become aware of InuYasha again. Tears were in her eyes, though they seemed too afraid to come out. "InuYasha..." she began, pausing for a moment to gulp. "InuYasha...I have to be absorbed into Naraku." Her voice was as dead as the corpse of the demon from that afternoon and colder than the crystal moon hanging in the sky outside.

Silence screamed at them. Finally, a slow creeping word whispered from the hanyou's lips. "What...?"

Kagome's hands were shaking terribly, yet the tears still refused to fall. "I...I have to be absorbed into N-Naraku's body..." she repeated, her voice becoming unsteadier by the word.

"But..." Sango softly whispered, "...But if Kagome is absorbed into Naraku, she'll die won't she?" No one seemed to be able to look away from Kagome's stricken face. Slowly Miroku nodded and managed to tear his eyes from Kagome to settle on his folded hands.

"K-Kagome..." InuYasha's voice sounded even more unsteady than Kagome's had been, if that was possible. His gold eyes locked with her chocolate brown once more, each looking into the other's face of utter horror and despair.

* * *

Ta da! Hope you liked the first chapter of my story! lol Please remember to REVIEW! Fourteen chapters in total and second one already up! 


	2. Allies and Betrayals

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.

**Chapter 2: Allies and Betrayals**

Kagome had to allow herself to be absorbed into Naraku...how could that be? They had always known that one day they would find a way to destroy Naraku and become victorious, but why had it suddenly demanded the sacrifice of Kagome's life? InuYasha's mouth continued to hang open in unspoken words, silence acting as a gag. Kagome would die...the girl sitting in front of him with shaking hands and terrified brown eyes would no longer be breathing, no longer be sitting him or yelling at him. Anger bubbled up from the pit of his stomach, quickly growing to a fierce roar.

"No! Kagome's not going to die! She won't let herself be absorbed into Naraku! There has to be another way!" InuYasha yelled, getting to his feet and towering over his friends. He rounded on Miroku, golden eyes flashing with fury. "Miroku! You have to think of another way to kill Naraku! There has to be one we haven't thought of!"

Miroku only gave him a blank look as if InuYasha was asking him to put the sun in his pocket. This, of course, only pushed the hanyou's anger further. He opened his mouth to let out a rainbow of curses when suddenly a foul stench floated into his sensitive nose. Turning aside, he glared at the doorway. "Naraku's nearby!" he growled darkly, placing a hand on his Tetsusaiga hilt. "As if we didn't have enough problems!" he added before hurrying to the door, missing Kagome's sad smile.

"Kagome, you should stay here. If Naraku somehow found out about Miroku's theory, he'd probably come after you," Sango warned, laying a comforting hand on the miko's shoulder. Kagome sighed and nodded meekly. Sango gave her a grateful smile, joining the others as they filed out of the door. Just before she left, she asked Kirara and Shippou to remain with Kagome just to be safe. The small neko youkai mewed and Shippou nodded in agreement as Sango left. Not two moments later the three of them were forced to halt in their tracks.

They had expected a puppet of Naraku or another one of his rejected demons instead of Kagura. The wind youkai stood there with her two feathers in her hair and red-slashed fan in her hand. A strange grin was plastered on her face.

"Kagura," InuYasha stated in a deep growl, pulling out his transforming Tetsusaiga fang.

Kagura grinned at him just as darkly, but she closed her fan with a quick snap. "Put your sword away, InuYasha. I did not come here to fight."

InuYasha frowned heavily, ignoring her words. "Save it! I wouldn't trust you even if you _weren't_ one of Naraku's incarnations!"

Surprisingly, Kagura's smiled didn't wane even for a moment. If anything, it widened. "I wouldn't expect anything less, which is why my reason for being here is even more interesting than I had imagined," she replied in a cool voice, tapping her cheek with the tip of her fan.

Miroku shifted slightly to lean towards InuYasha's ear. "Be careful, InuYasha," Miroku whispered to him. "She's hiding something and I think she intends to make us dig it out of her."

"Don't you think I know that already," he retorted in a hiss, though never removing his eyes from Kagura.

A look of strange amusement rose in the demon's face. "There's no need to plot against me," she said calmly. The mirth suddenly melted from her face as she took a few steps forward. The group tensed and raised their weapons. She ignored them, but suddenly turned her gaze to Miroku. "You, monk," she began, pointing at the houshi with her closed fan.

"What do you want with me?" Miroku questioned coldly, drawing himself up defiantly and readying his staff for combat.

Ignoring his question, she paused her stroll towards them and pulled her arm back to her side. "This afternoon you faced a demon of Naraku, but after you examined the ashes, you rushed your friends all the way here," she gestured to the house. "I am not going to ask you why, if that's what you're thinking, because I already know the answer."

It was a heavy effort not to flinch or shout. _'How could Kagura know? We only talked about it a few minutes ago and she wasn't even near here!' _InuYasha thought angrily, eyes boring into the demon. _'No, we can't believe her, not yet anyway. We have to act as if she's making it up.' _Miroku did a good job of masking the shock from his face.

Before any of them could say anything, Kagura continued. "Either way, the only thing I am interested in knowing is if you...are sure of your success, if you go through with it." How could she look so calm? Damn her!

Miroku's gaze hardened. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied in the same cold voice.

Kagura's high laugh was beyond mocking and tempted InuYasha to cut her in half right that moment. "Do not bother playing dumb with me. I know that you have found a way to kill Naraku," she paused for a moment to let her words sink in. Before continuing, she swung her gaze to InuYasha's as if to make a point. "And I have no intention of letting him know about it."

Immediately InuYasha snorted loudly with a deadly grin. "And why should we trust you? It isn't as if you've ever shown any sign of being an ally."

"Are you sure of that, half-demon?" Kagura answered calmly, her tone emphasizing "half-demon".

InuYasha's smile vanished. _'Damn her,'_ he thought furiously. The terrible thing about it was that Kagura was right. She hadn't told Naraku about the night of the full moon when InuYasha turned into his human form. It was a shock to learn, but that wasn't enough to throw in their trust with her and admit that they had found a way to kill Naraku. What exactly was she trying to pry out of them?

As if his vanishing grin was the answer she had been looking for all along, Kagura suddenly smiled widely, a sight so strange to them that Sango nearly raised her Hiraikotsu for flight. "That is all the answer I needed," she whispered softly, her eyes closed as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her. Opening them, she took a few steps closer. The group tensed again, but their eyes nearly fell out from their sockets as Kagura stopped and suddenly bent down on one knee with her head bowed. The red-slashed fan left her hand and tumbled to the floor before her while she replaced her hand to her heart.

"I, Kagura of the Winds," she began, "woman born of Naraku, swear on my earthly grave and hope of freedom to humbly serve my secret masters, InuYasha the half-demon, Miroku the monk, Sango the demon slayer, and Kagome the priestess. By my honour and wish of life, I swear my oaths of free will to my new masters and vow never to speak of my betrayal or oaths to anyone else. The Winds I own now serve them." She then retook her fan and opened it to make a small slash on her arm. Throwing the fan back down, she took some of the blood with her uncut hand and threw the blood specks at the feet of her "new masters". Then she picked up her fan again to slide it back into her kimono before rising again.

The three of them stood there with their eyes wide as they would go. InuYasha's mouth was hanging wide open. The silence was unbelievable as they just stood there in complete shock. Kagura was submitting to them? The oath she had given gave no doubt of suspicion whatsoever. It was a very strong oath, probably the strongest for both demons and humans. To break that oath was to forfeit your life, whether your masters decided to take it from you or if you did it yourself from failing them.

"I cannot promise to come whenever you call, but I will return later to answer any questions you need answered. You _will_ kill Naraku and set me free," Kagura continued, the previous meek voice she had used for the oath now gone. The group was still a deadly silence even as Kagura mounted her large feather and took off once more into the black of the night.

Little did Kagura know that she wasn't the only one who was aware of her betrayal. Further ahead of the Wind Sorceress's direction, the same beautiful miko with her flying silver serpents elegantly walked towards Naraku's castle. The barrier had been no more of a challenge to get through than the last time she had visited Naraku. Some of her soul collectors had died from the miasma, but by this point she cared as little for their deaths as she did for the women whose souls she had been using to keep her in this world.

"Another visit, Kikyou?" His voice truly did echo the thousands of bloodthirsty demons that had made him so long ago. It was cold like the harshest winter bite, yet dark like the shadows that trailed behind him. Kanna of the Void stood beside him, her expressionless face staring at Kikyou as she held her small mirror in her child hands.

"Naraku," Kikyou greeted, stopping for a moment to slide the door back into place behind her. Her lifeless eyes gazed to the right of Naraku for a moment before drifting back. "I see that you have lost one of your servants."

"Kohaku died by my orders, just as I had planned. You might have severed the bond I had on him, but I regained it just as it was before." His sneer was like a slap in the face, but it did not appear to affect Kikyou at all. If anything, one could say she looked almost pleased. "So what brings you into the depths of my castle once again, Kikyou?"

"The offer of advice," she answered.

"Oh?" he said, eyebrow raised. "You are truly a mystery, Kikyou. Giving me jewel shards, breaking the bond of one of my most obedient servants, and now giving me advice? If I did not think you intended to kill me, I would have thought you wanted to make me stronger."

Kikyou simply smiled at him, like she would for a child or weak elder. "I came to suggest that you keep a tighter rein on your incarnation, Kagura of the Winds. I understand that something new has come into her view and if my suspicions are correct, she has become a dog ready to slip her head into another leash." Naraku stared darkly at her as if piecing together her words in his mind.

"Another leash," he repeated, eyes trying to bore into her mind.

Kikyou nodded and turned away to slide the door back open. "Another leash," she agreed quietly before leaving. Even after she was long gone, Naraku still stared after her with fury buried deep in his eyes.

The morning came with the same dreary feeling as was present the night before. The pale sunlight stretched far towards their little hut and abandoned field. The group still slept, tired from the night full of discussion. After Kagura had left, one could only expect them to talk of her oath until their eyelids closed on themselves.

Kagome was the first awake. She had fallen asleep along with Shippou before the rest had returned inside. Getting up now, she left the hut to pause outside. _'If only it had been a dream,'_ she thought bitterly, looking at the rising sun over the forest trees. The sun always rose in the morning, no matter how long the night seemed. It would always rise in the morning, but one day...one day Kagome would not be able to see it rise anymore. One day she would see it rise for the final time and never again.

She would have to give up her life for the Shikon No Tama. Miroku had said it clearly; the only way to finally defeat Naraku was to allow herself to be absorbed into his body so her purity could spread through him and destroy him. There would be no chance of survival and she knew that. _'It's my duty,'_ she thought. If only telling herself that it was her duty was enough to encourage her to keep going. What if today was the last day of her life? What if she never saw the faces of her friends again? What if she never got the chance to say goodbye to her parents? Those questions were foolish. She knew that her friends wouldn't make her sacrifice her life today. They would never even consider _making_ her do anything of the sort. Letting a sigh escape her lips, she wandered a little further from the hut to sit upon a short boulder. The view of the sunset was even better here, but it was a bitter thought.

_'I brought the jewel here. I shattered it into shards, so it is my fault that Naraku is so powerful. Kikyou might have given him the shards, but it was because of my presence that that ever happened.'_ The sun's pale light barely warmed her chilled skin at all. _'I need to be the one to finish him off...I'm the only one that can do it.'_

If only the last couple of days had never happened. It had seemed like a dream before...

_It had been a long day of travel and the battle with the lizard demon had been very tiring. Luckily they had found a small river trailing from the east with a few good fish leisurely swimming through its waters. They had even been lucky enough to catch a good few and make a comfortable dinner._

_As they sat about the fire, each munching their own fish, Kagome watched the sky. Sometimes she wondered if there were as many Shikon shards as there were stars in the sky, glittering their white light like a crystal just out of human reach. Peace was a rare time for them, especially after a battle, so it was only to be expected that InuYasha and Shippou would begin a squabble._

_"Hey! That's my fish!" Shippou yelled, leaping up from his spot as InuYasha wolfed down the fish that had moments before sat in front of the kitsune child._

_"Well, it's too late now," InuYasha replied calmly, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand. Shippou growled at him and began hopelessly beating InuYasha's leg with his small fists. InuYasha in turn raised his own fist and smashed it down on Shippou's head, making him cry pitifully._

_"InuYasha!" Kagome hissed, her peaceful thoughts consumed long since. InuYasha began to flinch, thinking she was about to sit him, but Shippou had planned his own punishment for the hanyou._

_Before InuYasha realized what was happening, Shippou had thrown one of his magic acorns up InuYasha's left nostril. Immediately InuYasha yelled in surprise and clawed at the wriggling acorn, but to no avail. Giving up the attempt, he growled evilly at Shippou and the two began a futile chase around the camp, the acorn still dancing in the hanyou's nose. Having forgotten all about sitting him, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango roared with laughter, clutching their stomachs from the effort._

She let out her own chuckle at the memory. It had been a hilarious sight and would not fade any time soon. Then again, they had barely gotten any sleep that night from the moans of InuYasha and Shippou. InuYasha moaned from the hundreds of sits inflicted by Kagome and Shippou from the bumps and bruises inflicted by InuYasha's fist.

But the miko's mirth faded slowly as her mind returned to the present. There would be no time for laughs like that anymore. She would have to prepare for the final battle and say her farewells to everyone. It was only then that it struck her that she had fully accepted her task without ever realizing it. It brought a chill to her spine from the small effort she had required.

"Kagome?" came InuYasha's voice. "Are you okay?"

Kagome turned around and she almost gasped. InuYasha stood there with a face so sincere she almost didn't recognize him. His silver hair glowed gold in the morning light and his yellow eyes were full to burst with worry for her. She felt her heart skip a beat, which automatically made her blush a deep pink. Her heart began to race a little faster as he came to sit beside her. What was wrong with her? She had sat with InuYasha before, but it had never made her heart race like this. Annoyed with herself, Kagome looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "I just came out to think for a bit."

It was obvious he was struggling to say something, and not just from how he avoided looking at her face anymore. His hands jerked slightly as if he half-wanted to raise his hand to start a point, but then thought it foolish and stopped.

Finally, InuYasha sighed and kept his eyes firmly fixed on something in the distance. "Kagome...what Miroku said yesterday...you know you don't have to do that. Miroku will think of another way." He definitely didn't sound as positive about that as he might have wanted. "He'll find a way so you can be safe, Kagome. I'll...we'll protect you," he whispered, his eyes dropping down to his hands.

Kagome blushed again. "InuYasha...I...I have to do it." His eyes flashed towards her, so she continued before he could interrupt. "I don't exactly know how, but...I've already accepted what I have to do. It'll take a while to get used to, but...I know I have to do it."

Anger slipped into the hanyou's eyes and he opened his mouth to argue, but suddenly a tingle ran up Kagome's spine. She snapped her gaze towards the north. "I think I sense jewel shards coming our way," she said.

She would have thought InuYasha's anger would have melted, but instead it grew fiercer. "It's Kouga," he almost spat, coming to his feet. A few seconds later, a large whirlwind came into view and was spinning towards them. InuYasha placed his hand on his sword hilt but before he could draw it, Kouga had stopped his run and stepped from his vanishing whirlwind. Raising a hand in friendly salute accompanied with a handsome grin, the wolf youkai warmly greeted them with, "Hi, Kagome."

"Good morning, Kouga," Kagome greeted back. As if she had coughed sickly instead of speaking levelly, Kouga gazed at her as if she were truly ill. He came closer, despite InuYasha's growls.

"What's wrong, Kagome? You look more sullen than you usually do. And you're all pale," he said in a concerned voice. He raised his hand to test her temperature, but InuYasha had knocked away his hand while it still rose. Whirling to face him, the wolf youkai glowered heatedly.

"There's nothing wrong with her, you mangy wolf," InuYasha snarled, flexing his claws.

"I wasn't asking you, mutt!" Kouga retorted back, hand curled into a fist now. He glanced back at Kagome's face and then to InuYasha's and back. "Something's wrong with her, I know it! What did you do to her, you stupid half-breed?" he roared at InuYasha.

"I didn't do anything, idiot! And get your stupid face out of my face!" he roared back.

"Get your _own_ face out of the way! Filthy mutt!"

"That's it, I'm finishing you off one and for all!"

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that!"

Knowing where this was going, Kagome quickly slid off the rock and gently touched InuYasha's arm before he could rip out his Tetsusaiga and start the battle. "Please, InuYasha, Kouga, don't start fighting now," she pleaded, only barely keeping the sigh from escaping.

Kouga did seem to calm down at her command, but his stern look didn't. "He did something to you, Kagome. Tell me what it was. I have the right to know if you're hurt," he insisted, shooting a glare at InuYasha.

This time Kagome did let out her sigh. "InuYasha didn't do anything to me, Kouga. I'm completely fine, just...tired, I suppose," she answered slowly. _'I can't tell him the truth. Yet anyway. He does have the right to know, but not right now. He'll just start another fight with InuYasha and I'll never hear the end of it,'_ she thought.

"Please, Kouga. I just need some rest, that's all. I really don't feel up to keeping you and InuYasha from fighting right now," she continued. When Kouga didn't let up his probing stare, she closed her eyes for a moment before speaking again. "Please, Kouga. I don't want to ask you to leave right now, but I'd really appreciate it if I could just have some time alone without you and InuYasha fighting."

A few moments passed before finally the wolf youkai sighed. "Okay, Kagome. You get some rest, I'll leave for now."

Kagome blinked in surprise. "Really? You're not mad?"

His disappointed face now changed to a warm smile. "Of course not. If my woman says that she wants some rest, she deserves some. I'll see you around, Kagome! I'll be back later!" Saluting one last time with his famous grin, he sped away from them with his whirlwind trailing behind his feet.

"She's not your woman!" InuYasha hollered after him, but to no avail.

* * *

Phew. That was rather tiring to write. Hope you liked that funny bit Kagome remembered I added in just for the fun of it. Kouga will return into the story later, so expect to see him again! 


	3. The Plan

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.

**Chapter 3: The Plan**

"Get out of the way," he commanded in a coolly levelled voice.

"What? How dare you speak to me like that, despicable vermin!" the bear youkai growled loudly, long fangs flashing in the light. It raised its ominously long claws in a heated threat. "I'll teach you to show respect!" With a roar the bear youkai launched itself at its opponent, already thrashing its claws forward. The loud pounding of its footsteps seemed to make the forest path shake with its vibration.

However, its opponent remained unfazed by the threats. If anything, he seemed to grow calmer as if the threat of battle was only a bother to be brushed aside. Raising his fore and middle fingers with a reserved frown, he made a slashing movement at the youkai. A whip of light suddenly appeared from his hand and raced towards the victim with the speed of a striking snake. The bear youkai didn't even have time to pause in horror as the whip cut cleanly through it flesh. Its two halves fell away with a low shriek as the whip of light faded away once more.

The victor was a tall silver-haired youkai with a crescent moon in the centre of his forehead and dressed in a red-embroidered white kimono. A large full cloth of fur hung over his right shoulder while two swords, one missing its sheath, hung at his left hip by a yellow and blue cloth tied around the waist. His face was the heart of the coldest winter day and the warm sun afternoon seemed to shy away from his stoic yellow eyes.

"That was brilliant, Lord Sesshomaru!" a young girl cheered enthusiastically, clapping her hands in applause. She wore an orange and beige plaid kimono and part of her black hair was tied up in a small tail on the side of her head. She sat upon the saddle of a brown-scaled two-headed dragon each with a black and silver muzzle over its snout. The reins of the beast were being held by a small toad youkai in a brown kimono, black top hat, and holding a tall two-headed wooden staff while walking ahead of the animal.

"What a foolish demon! Imagine, trying to make my Lord submit to a lowly beast such as he! Humph! He certainly got what he deserved," the toad youkai commented with an approving nod of his head.

Lord Sesshomaru ignored the two completely as he stared ahead into the distance. _'What is he planning?'_ he thought for a moment. Turning around, he stared right at Jaken, who suddenly seemed to think it fit to throw himself down onto his hands and knees with his head bowed as if he were receiving orders.

"Jaken," he began in a monotonous tone, "Stay with Rin." Jaken blinked at the order, unable to hide his displeasure of it. Still, the toad youkai bobbled his head mumbling a humble "Yes, m'Lord".

Turning back, Sesshomaru bent forward slightly and shot off into a quick run, his penetrating eyes coldly staring at something in the distance. Having dog youkai blood flow through his veins, his sight was more advanced than humans or lesser demons. He was able to see the small yellow insects buzzing in the distance. The Saimyoushou were vile creatures that carried out orders from Naraku without any thought and their toxic poison made them dangerous to both demons and humans alike. It still sickened him to remember that he had once made a deal with that despicable half-demon, Naraku. That deal had almost killed him in the end, but Naraku had been foolish enough to believe he would get away unscathed. If the Saimyoushou were nearby, that meant that they would eventually lead him straight to Naraku, and Naraku to his ultimate demise.

He quickly gained on the ill-coloured insects, but kept a few paces back so he could get a clear view of them without them detecting him. Naraku was a fool indeed, sending out these little trail marks for anyone to follow. _'I must be careful. Naraku may be a fool, but he enjoys spinning his enemies in circles. This could be a trap,'_ he reminded himself.

After a while of pursuit, the scent of Naraku began to strengthen alongside the poisonous insects. It had to be either another demon or puppet of Naraku seeing as Naraku rarely risked coming out of his castle himself as of late. The Saimyoushou suddenly stopped their flight. The dog demon stopped as well, watching their every move. Either ignoring him or unaware of him, they gazed on at something ahead. Lowering his own gaze, he spotted their focus of interest. It was the youkai Wind Sorceress, Kagura. Her smirk seemed terribly bland as if she had just done something to her great distaste. Her red eyes had a strange emotion in them. If she had not been a woman of Naraku, he would have thought she seemed regretful.

"Sesshomaru," she stated in neither greeting nor challenge, casually tapping the tip of her closed fan to her cheek. She almost seemed expectant as if she had expected him to come to her like a dog to an owner. The thought infuriated him, but it was held carefully and cooled down with his stern determination. His face remained blank and cold, the ideal expression to wear when facing an enemy.

He glanced upwards to the Saimyoushou. They still buzzed there in silent order, watching Kagura instead of himself. Why would Naraku be spying on one of his own creations? She didn't seem to be aware of them as they hovered high up in the trees, just above her eyesight. Or perhaps she was aware and simply passed the fact over. The thought was puzzling, but he let it fall away to the back of his mind. Kagura was in front of him. He needed to concentrate on her instead of letting her slash her cursed fan at him while he gazed at something else.

"What have you come here for?" he asked coldly.

Her tapping stopped and she lowered her fan back to her waistcloth. Red eyes flashing back at him, she gave him that regretful smile once again. It was a purely alien sight on her normally sly face. "I was passing through the area and I caught word that you were near by." How she caught word of him out here was beyond him. "So I thought I would make a little visit. I knew that you would follow the scent of Naraku so I waited and here you are."

"A visit," he repeated as if the word tasted foul in his mouth. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, but beside that he made no other motion.

Her smile darkened for a moment before lightening again. A wind passed through them and rustled their hair, but their hard gazes remained unaffected. After a few moments of silence, Kagura shook her head and looked away. That regretful look was insufferable, but it was an emotion easily melted away. The sound of the Saimyoushou's buzzing still hummed in his ears, but it was faint enough for Kagura not to be able to hear. Perhaps she truly was unaware of them.

"I wish you could have taken part in the death of Naraku when you had the chance, Sesshomaru," she suddenly said. The dog youkai raised a cool eyebrow at her, but she ignored it. "It may not be too late, but your wish of solitary victory is now gone."

"What plot of Naraku is this?" Sesshomaru demanded darkly. The woman was utterly mad. She was a complete fool if she spoke those words from her own mouth while the poisonous insects watched. Unless, of course, she had been commanded to say those words as an order from Naraku in attempt to lure him into trusting her.

On Kagura the expression mirrored mild surprise, but on anyone else it would have been utter shock. After a few moments of silence, the emotion faded back to cold stillness. "Naraku..." she said slowly as if she wasn't sure if she should tell him this, "Naraku doesn't know. He knows nothing and I intend to keep it that way." She paused to pluck one of the feathers from her hair. "You could join us if you wished it. You could gain some victory, some revenge." Finally she turned away and threw her feather into the air. It swelled in size and after a quick leap upon its back; Kagura allowed her winds to carry her away from Sesshomaru and the Saimyoushou.

Sesshomaru remained watching for a few minutes. _'There are others included in her secret, then?'_ he thought before glancing at the Saimyoushou once again. The insects were watching him now, but only for a moment longer before their wings suddenly stopped and they dropped to the ground, dead. Perhaps Naraku wasn't being as foolish with his servants as he had expected. _'What are you planning, Naraku?'_ he thought as another scent drifted by with a light breeze. He felt the desire to wrinkle his nose in disgust of the smell, but instead he only looked towards its source. Suddenly he sprang into a run through the forest, aiming straight for the scent. The cold of his face seemed to harden with each passing step.

A little distance away, the group were preparing their food and water sacks for the journey home as evening crept in. Their temporary resting place would have done fine for another day or two of planning, but now that Kagura knew where they were, the chance of Naraku suddenly swarming down on them lifted them to their feet. Kagura's oath of fealty was still on the balance between trust and suspicion, but it would have to be dealt with another time. As of now, they had to prepare for the upcoming battle. Miroku, or anyone else for that matter, had not been able to think of any alternative to the victory over Naraku so at last they were forced to accept it. If they didn't start preparing now, they would run the risk of Naraku finding out and their only hope being dashed away before they could do anything. Kagome had told them of her acceptance, however reluctant, but no one was near comfortable with the thought yet.

They decided to remain at the abandoned farm for one more night before they left to continue their plans. Sunset was slowly rolling in and the far East was cloaked in silver-spotted black. They had just finished throwing dirt over the supper fire and packing away any extra food when InuYasha suddenly growled deeply. It was the first noise he had made since Kouga had left.

"What is it, InuYasha?" Kagome asked, shifting her backpack onto her shoulders.

"Sesshomaru is coming," he spat angrily. Without wait he drew out his sword and steadied it as if preparing to throw a Wind Scar at his half-brother before the youkai could even approach. Kagome struggled to suppress a sigh.

Miroku ran his fingers through his hair tiredly. "We seem to be getting a visit from everyone as of late," he mumbled to himself. "Perhaps we'll meet Kikyou or Jinenji on the way to Kaede's village." Sango chuckled lightly beside him, which of course made Miroku beam proudly. Yet being the idiotic houshi he was, it was soon followed by a death glare from Sango and a flying fist.

Pulling his hand away, Miroku gently touched the bruise on his cheek with a disappointed sigh. "This is not the time for you to be a pervert, you idiot monk," Sango growled, crossing her arms and turning her head away from him with her chin high.

"Can we just focus please?" Shippou pleaded, looking at Miroku with a tired expression. The words were barely out of his mouth before InuYasha growled again and narrowed his eyes towards the West. Quickly a tense feeling came over all of them as they waited for the figure of InuYasha's older brother to appear from the forest shade.

They only had to wait for a few minutes before the outline of a tall youkai in a calm walk appeared among the darkness. As he came closer the details of his cold face and silver hair glowed with the sunset light to his back. The deadly aura that was always around him became nearly too bold for comfort. His eyes seemed even more demanding than usual and he appeared on the verge of drawing out his Tokijin. At about twenty steps away from them, he halted. His gaze swept over the area for a moment before focusing back on his younger brother.

"InuYasha," he commanded coolly, eyes full of fury but face as dead as stone. "Tell me what she said."

"What the Hell are you talking about?" he growled back, threateningly raising his sword.

Sesshomaru ignored the blade, eyes sweeping over the area again as if searching for something. "She was here last night, so do not bother lying to me, little brother," he spat. The last two words were hissed as if to make them an insult. "Tell me what she said."

InuYasha did a rather poor job in keeping the surprise from his face compared to his brother. Despite this, he hissed out, "I told you, I don't know what you're rambling on about."

"And I told you not to lie," he repeated with a twinge more impatience in his voice than before. "What secret did you make with her?"

Though none of them had been moving, a sudden strict feel of stillness came over them. How could he know about her oath? Had Kagura made the same with Sesshomaru? No, it was impossible. Coming to them for help was one thing, but to throw her life at Sesshomaru's feet? Finally Miroku took a step forward.

He hesitated for a heartbeat in decision of his words. "Did she...throw her blood at your feet...?" His lips stayed parted for a second longer as if to say something else, but he thought better of it and closed his mouth. Sesshomaru would know what he meant. The oath Kagura had given was known between both humans and demons. To throw your blood at the feet of another was the sincerest form of fealty.

Sesshomaru gave an icy cold glare at him. "Stay out of this, human," he commanded coldly. "Human" was said with the same intention of insult as "little brother" had. He swung his eyes back to InuYasha. "Now, tell me once and for all what she said and I will spare you your lives."

"Shut up!" InuYasha yelled at him. "We not going to tell you anything, so you go to Hell!" He swung his Tetsusaiga challengingly. Sesshomaru simply observed him without a sliver of expression.

"It would be no trouble at all in killing you, InuYasha. You hold your weaknesses on your face. A trait from your pathetic human blood, no doubt," he answered in the closest thing to a sneer as was possible for him.

"Shut the Hell up!" InuYasha roared and took a step forward as if intending to run him through right then. Kagome hurried to lay a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He hesitated for a moment, but then let himself he calmed down. After a moment, Sesshomaru turned his eyes to Kagome and watched her. Kagome remained amazingly still under his gaze without any indication of fear. Then he shifted his gaze to each of the others in turn before resting once again on InuYasha. Finally the dog demon swiftly turned and began to walk back the way he came.

"I never thought you'd be the one to run away from a battle, Sesshomaru," InuYasha sneered loud enough for his brother to hear.

The dog youkai paused only for a moment to turn his head slightly, but only that. "Do not push your luck too far, little brother. I will not kill you today. There is still some need for you to live a while longer, from what you say. Once your task is over, then I shall kill you." With that, he turned his head back and continued on with his walk as calmly as he came.

They waited until the outline of Sesshomaru had vanished among the shadows once again before they dared move or give a sigh of relief. "What the Hell did he mean by "from what you say"? We didn't tell him anything about Kagura." Grumbling to himself, he shoved his Tetsusaiga back into its sheath and headed back to the hut without another word.

Kagome watched him leave with a worried expression. "Oh, InuYasha..." she whispered to herself, shaking her head. Lifting her gaze back up to the others, she said in her regular tone, "What do you think?"

They were quiet for a few moments. Miroku had a hard expression while Sango watched him worriedly, Shippou and Kirara in her hands. The houshi watched InuYasha disappear into the hut before switching his gaze to the spot where Sesshomaru had vanished. He gave a fatigued sigh before rubbing his left temple with a hand. "There's no doubt Sesshomaru meant Kagura, that we can be sure. Obviously the two of them met recently and close by if Sesshomaru was able to locate us so quickly."

"Perhaps Kagura purposely went out of her way to meet Sesshomaru? Unless he simply detected her scent of Naraku and hunted her down," Sango commented.

"But why would Kagura want Sesshomaru to find her? Doesn't Sesshomaru want to kill Naraku as badly as we do?" Shippou thought aloud, scratching his head as he watched Miroku.

Miroku sighed before replying. "I don't know. It is possible that she wanted to get his allegiance as well. They may be enemies, but it's obvious that he didn't kill Kagura or else InuYasha would have found the scent of Naraku's blood on Sesshomaru." After a moment, he gazed at the sunset as he continued. "Sesshomaru asked us what secret we had made with Kagura. He also told us that we had a task to finish. I have little doubts that he doesn't know about Kagura's oath to us. Could it be plausible that she also told him of our intentions?"

No one answered this. It was impossible to predict what Sesshomaru would do if he found out that they were planning on killing Naraku. There could be the chance that he would kill all of them just so he would have a clear field for his own revenge, for all they knew.

"But..." Kagome began, "But does this mean that Kagura can be trusted?"

New silence was born at the words. Could Kagura be trusted? True, she was a woman of Naraku, but she had kept InuYasha's new moon secret and she had given them the strongest oath of fealty known to both humans and demons alike. If she had gone to Sesshomaru for help as well, she might truly be trying to get safety into the death of Naraku.

"Let's return inside," Miroku finally whispered. The light was getting terribly thin and they had to have a good night rest before their journey tomorrow morning. The others mumbled a soft agreement before they turned and headed back towards the hut.

Despite the weakening light, Sesshomaru was able to see his path as clearly as if it were day. The forest trees passed him by swiftly as he sped along, mind full to burst. _'She swore an oath to them,'_ he thought in amazement. The monk had been clear enough, even if his companions had been blind to it. The only reason he would ask if Kagura threw her blood at his feet was if she had already done so with them. _'She will get herself killed soon enough. Naraku will not stay blind to her secret betrayal for long.'_ His thoughts died away into tense silence as the last rays of light vanished and the distant glow of a fire appeared. Rin was already waving to him while Jaken was apparently trying to drag his bottom along the ground in attempt to put out a fire at the end of his kimono.

The interior of the hut shared the same tense silence of Sesshomaru's mind. Each member of their group sat around the fire as if rolling the words over in their heads. It had taken a good two or three hours to decide, but it seemed longer if one included the eerie feel of awkwardness between each sentence. The plan was made, and that's all there was to it.

"I still don't like it," InuYasha growled, eyes closed and arms folded.

Kagome gave him a pitied look. "We have to trust Kagura, InuYasha. We just have to. Otherwise the entire plan would collapse. We need her help." She knew the attempt to comfort him was in vain, but she felt it essential nonetheless.

"But how do we know that she won't betray us? She could lead us straight into one of Naraku's traps and we'd be dead before we knew it," InuYasha insisted, eyes now open and glaring, more in irritation than fury. "She could be under Naraku's order all this time and be guiding us to our deaths!"

"Yes, we know the risk, InuYasha," Miroku answered calmly. "It seems by this point that everything hangs on Kagura's oath. Either she meant it and she will lead us to Naraku's castle without his knowledge or she will betray us to our demise. It's the very balance between definite life and death."

InuYasha gave another growl but said no more. Overall those growls had been the extent of his dialogue as they formed the plan. Even though Kagome had suggested a good chunk of it herself, she didn't like it much more than any of the others. First, Kagura would secretly lead them to Naraku's castle where InuYasha would inflict his Red Tetsusaiga on it so they could enter. Then they would immediately attack with full strength until they came close enough to Naraku for frontal attacks. By this point they would simply concentrate on cutting pieces of his flesh off so they could capture one before it melted back into him. Kagome would strap herself to the piece of flesh and let it absorb itself back into Naraku with her imbetween. Though Kagome would probably be dead by this point, her miko powers would spread throughout his body until it killed him completely and freed the jewel shards. It was a terribly bleak plan, but if they worked hard enough, it would be successful.

"Kagome shouldn't have to die," InuYasha grumbled for what seemed like the tenth time. Despite his protests, he had carefully avoided looking at Kagome during the entire planning. "There should be another way."

"There isn't, InuYasha," Kagome answered softly. "If there was, we would take it, but there isn't. You have to accept that."

Suddenly InuYasha flew to his feet and towered over Kagome with clenched fists. "Accept it! Accept that you're letting yourself give up your life and for what? For some damn jewel shards and revenge over Naraku? I can't--!" He cut himself off as a loud growl ripped through his throat and he twisted to drive his fist into the wall of the hut. It made a deep dent and the hanyou had barely removed his fist before he stormed out of the hut.

"InuYasha..." Kagome whispered as tears started to sting her eyes. Quiet flowed over the rest of them. Kagome remained staring at the door for a good while, not daring to glance at the others. Finally she rose from her seat and filed out after the hanyou. The night was dark, but it was peaceful and pleasantly cool. A first glance told her that he had stormed off to sit on a tree log that sat just before the fields and the fire pit where they cooked their meals. Slowly she approached him. He didn't look at her as she sat down beside him, but kept his gaze firmly on the sky above. It was a beautifully clear sky with millions of twinkling silver stars shining down at them.

For a long time they said nothing to each other. Kagome gazed at the sky too, but her mind was elsewhere. _'He said that my death wasn't worth the jewel shards or revenge...he actually said that...'_ she thought in disbelief. It a rather bittersweet feeling to know that he cared about her so much to say that. _'For so long all he wanted was the Shikon Jewel so he could become full demon and avenge Kikyou's death. Did...did he really mean it?'_

Her thoughts fell quiet for a moment as she side-glanced at InuYasha. The moon reflected off his golden eyes, so stern and angry. His silver hair seemed to glow as well, despite the night. Her eyes rested on his white dog-ears for a moment and suddenly her heart sank. Once she fulfilled her duties in the defeat of Naraku, she would never be able to touch those soft ears again. She would never be able to see his golden eyes or silver hair. She would never feel the warmth of his hands. Her heart would never race anymore from a his hug. Her eyes stung, but she didn't notice. She would fight with him again, never sit him again, never get angry at him for coming to her school without his hat on. He'd never save her again and she'd never save him again. She would never smile at him, laugh with him, tease him again...She'd never kiss him again.

Raising a hand, she turned her face away to try and wipe the tears from her damp cheeks. She gave a soft hiccup from her sobs and didn't bother in trying to stop them. She knew it was useless.

"Kagome?" a soft voice asked. She turned her head around and her heart nearly burst as her eyes met his. The pure sight of him made her mind race in the realization that she loved him. She loved him so much...so much that it nearly hurt. Her heart seemed to want to beat its way out of her chest.

"I'm afraid, InuYasha," she whispered back, dropping her gaze.

"Kagome..." After a few moments, she felt his arms slowly wrap around her as she was pulled into his chest. "You don't have to be afraid. I'll...I'll protect you, Kagome," he whispered into her raven black hair. "You're safe with me..."

She gave another sniff, but gladly accepted the embrace. "InuYasha...I'm not afraid of death...I'm..." She buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm afraid of losing you." He seemed to stiffen slightly at her words as if shock had ripped through him. "I'm afraid of losing you..." she repeated even more softly.

"K-Kagome..." he stuttered, but said no more. The moonlight seemed cold on her hands, but the warmth of the hanyou she loved was only just beginning to thaw the fear that clutched her heart.

* * *

Liked the fluff? Good, then you have something to review about. LOL Anyway, I hope you liked it and I'm sorry it took so long to make. Enjoy and review! 


	4. Promises

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.

**Chapter 4: Promises**

The morning light came pale and cool. A soft mist rose around the edges of the forest and there was a faint moisture in the air speaking of rain to come. Despite this, the sky was clear and bright. It almost seemed to mock the group as their minds remained in gloom. Kagome and InuYasha both seemed strangely quiet after they awoke. The others weren't any more talkative than they, but there was a feel of uneasy bitterness in their eyes. Soundlessly the group ate a small breakfast before putting out the fire and swinging their packs over their shoulders. With a final gaze at the abandoned hut, they turned away and headed back into the forest. It was probably just their imaginations, but the farm seemed to have an even darker feel than it had when they had first arrived. Striding into the forest hid them away from what little warmth the morning sun gave, but they did not give it much notice.

The hours passed on with only the sound of calm breaths of their companions for comfort. The plan was now made and they would have to complete it as soon as possible. There was no telling if the future held Naraku's discovery of their notions, so only pure need drove them. If only Naraku had never been made...if only the jewel shard had never been created. What would life be like then? Certainly not this. Certainly not walking their friend home to say goodbye to her family before they sent her to her death. Each knew that this would be the last journey home Kagome would ever make. One day, that's all they could spare for her to have with her family. It seemed even more brutal than the way Naraku had ripped each of them from their own families...

How could Kagome do this, the others wondered? How could she give up her life so easily for the sake of her friends and their desires? Each wanted revenge for someone that was killed by Naraku's hand, but was it worth having another close friend killed? Kagome had said that it was her duty, her job to finish what she started. She had brought the Shikon No Tama back into this world and shattered it into pieces. She had obligation to fix it, even if it meant her ultimate demise. Besides, she was the only one with the ability to do it, she had claimed.

Once Shippou had asked after Kikyou. The undead priestess possessed the same miko powers as Kagome, so why could she not take Kagome's place? For some reason Kagome grew angry at this, but quickly suppressed it, not wanting to be angry with Shippou during the little time she had left with him. She had answered in a sad voice an explanation that Shippou "wouldn't understand" and that he was "too young". The others had looked at her sadly from this, but each seemed to have a pitiful understanding look on their faces. Later Kagome had muttered under her breath that it was "her duty, not Kikyou's". In a way, Shippou understood. Kikyou had been brought back into this world against her will; it was not her place to decide such a fate for herself, especially now that she had gotten a second chance at life. Kagome had not entered this world by her will either, but she remained in it by choice. It was almost as if it was her destiny to give her life up, as if that was the reason she had fallen into the well in the first place. It only made sense that she would feel duty to this job.

Shippou had not brought it up again after that. He still felt full of questions, but anyone with half a brain could tell that now was not the time for such things. For a long time they remained in uncomfortable silence, until finally they left the forest path and broke into wide valleys. It was much warmer and brighter here, yet they still seemed oblivious to it.

"Jinenji's garden is near by," Kagome finally said quietly with eyes diverted to the path ahead. "We should stop by for a few minutes," she added and no one said otherwise. InuYasha gazed at her for a moment and opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it with a snap and nodded approvingly. The others also gave simple nods, but no more. Jinenji was a good friend of theirs, one of the few that they had managed to gain during their trips. He liked Kagome and each knew that he deserved to know about their upcoming battle. Being a hanyou, his human side was very warm and kind so it would be cruel not to say goodbye to him.

After a good while, they left the path and followed a river for a time until a distant village came into view with its tiny grey spirals of smoke ascending from each hut. It looked just as it had the first time they had seen it. The sun was far in the distance at its late afternoon seat and an uneasy wind seemed to constantly sweep past them.

As they arrived, a few people recognized them and waved cheerfully, ignorant of the mood that hung around them. Nonetheless, they returned the greetings, but quickly passed through the village and turned onto the path leading to Jinenji's garden. Distant mountains of green framed the peaceful sight of a small wooden hut and long soil rows with various herbs poking up. Jinenji, still twice as tall as any of them in his blue kimono and scarred arms and legs, was tending the garden with a hoe in hand. His mother was before the hut steadily sweeping with a broom in hand. Her green head-cloth was still strapped on around white hair along with her black-embroidered brown kosoda and grey mo-bakama.

Jinenji's mother stopped her sweeping as she noticed their arrival. "Why, hello there," she greeted in a gravely old voice. Her smile was thin from age, but warm as always. Her son heard her words and turned from his gardening to see who had come. His large blue eyes brightened at the sight of Kagome and the others.

"Hullo, Kagome," he said. His voice was deep and rumbling, but soft and kind at the same time. Carefully stepping over his plants, he came to meet them. "It's nice to see you again," he added once he stood beside his mother.

"It's nice to see you too," Kagome answered. She tried to put her best smile on, but her heart was not in it and it ended up being an obvious attempt. How could she smile when she knew she was about to tell him such terrible news? It'd be so hard on him if she began to explain it right away, but then again, it wouldn't lighten the burden if she broke it to him easily either.

Luckily she was spared the need to think of an opening sentence as Jinenji suddenly gained a concerned expression and blinked slowly at her. "What is wrong, Kagome? You look sad and worried," he voiced, voice like a low drum roll. "Normally your smile is so warm." As if suddenly realizing what he said, he turned a light shade of pink.

At this Kagome's smile was much warmer, but soon it faded as she hesitated in answering. She was spared once more as Miroku stepped in and suggested that they go inside to speak while Sango added in that they had something very important to say. The mother and hanyou held curiously worried looks, but nodded and turned to invite them inside. After they had all filed in and sat down in a circle, Jinenji taking up almost a quarter of the room on his own, they began.

"Jinenji, I..." Kagome started, still lost for words. She hadn't even begun the story and it was already this hard. Would it be the same way saying goodbye to her family and friends? She had no doubts for the answer. "I need to tell you something," she finally spat out. "Do...do you know about a demon named Naraku?"

"Naraku?" he repeated. "I know that name, but no more."

"Well," Kagome fumbled, "N-Naraku is a very powerful demon that is seeking to collect all the shards of the Shikon No Tama. Each of us is an enemy to him and we've been working for a really long time trying to destroy him before he gets all the shards." She paused to take a breath. Might as well keep going now that she started. "We've tried everything to defeat him, but nothing's worked so far. A few days ago, Miroku figured out the secret to killing Naraku so...so that's what we're going to do. I just..." Realizing she was looking at her clenched fists, she raised her gaze to Jinenji's attentive blue eyes. "We were passing by and...I wanted to come by for a--a visit." Suppressing a sigh, she waited for his reaction.

Instead, his mother spoke first. "I don't understand. If this is true, then why do you all look so glum? You should be happy that you found the answer to your troubles with this Naraku fellow." A dangerous demon with deadly strong powers and she called him a fellow. If the mood in the air was not so heavy, Kagome would have laughed.

"It's just that..." Kagome muttered, "...I don't know how..." She couldn't tell them the entire truth. Explaining their plan could be dangerous in case a spy of Naraku was near by. It was dangerous enough figuring it out for the first time, but repeating it again could mean it travelling between lips. "You see...we've already made our plan to defeat Naraku, but...one of its most important parts will mean my...d-death."

The silence was breathless. Kagome was staring at her fists again, but she knew that Jinenji and his mother were both staring at her. "Kagome?" Jinenji finally whispered, though it was too loud to be considered one. He didn't seem aware of it, but his own hands were shaking as well.

Kagome closed her eyes tight, not being able to stand looking into the eyes of either of them. "I-if we go through with th-the plan, I'll have to give up my life." She rubbed her left hand with her right, not able to take the calm stillness anymore. "Otherwise, it won't work..." Her hands felt so cold and their gazes so heavy. "It's my duty, Jinenji. I have to go through with it..." Tearing her eyes open, she lifted her chin to look squarely into Jinenji's gaze. They were so hollow and disbelieving. She could almost hear his revolting thoughts. "That's why we came here. I wanted to say goodbye to you." She was amazed at how smooth her voice was.

Obviously working up words in his mouth, the hanyou blinked for a moment. "Kagome...I..." He fell silent again and tore his eyes away to skip through the faces of each of Kagome's companions as if searching for the face that would say "Just kidding" and laugh their surprise away. Meeting only regretful faces, he looked back at Kagome. "I don't understand. Is this Naraku really that important?" His words were quiet, even for him.

Kagome frowned and pulled her face away so her bangs covered her eyes. "Of course it is! We've been working for so long to finally kill him! My friends need me to do this! _I_ need to do this!" Her words were not truly shouts, but more like breathless trailings. Still, she cut herself off before they could continue. A hand darted up under her bangs to her eye before being pulled back down. Suddenly her shoulders slouched, but she didn't raise her gaze. "I'm sorry, Jinenji...I didn't mean to…. This isn't your fault..." she apologized softly.

Silence surrounded them again for a time. Jinenji's eyes were full of pity and confusion while the others were plain regret. None but Jinenji and his mother looked at Kagome for a time. InuYasha seemed on the verge of saying something, but whenever he opened his mouth to speak, he paused for a moment and closed it again. Tears were in Shippou's eyes, but he refrained from going to snuggle into Kagome's lap.

After a few painfully silent minutes crawled by, Jinenji bowed his head and said in a calm tone, "I understand." Kagome looked up at him and was surprised to see his face the picture of grim acceptance. Her eyes were slightly red at the edges, but her cheeks were a dry pink. Jinenji smiled at her, but he didn't break away from her gaze. "Kagome, I can see that this is very important to you. I will not ask any more questions. If you say you need to do this, I believe you."

"Jinenji…" was all Kagome could manage to mutter.

After a moment, "Fool girl with fool pride. Coming here and dumping your misery on us. Imagine!" Jinenji's mother scolded, but, surprisingly, with a small smile on her face. "At least you managed to get my boy's acceptance. If you hadn't, he'd probably mope around here until the moon changed colour." She gave a chuckle and pulled herself to her feet while Jinenji blushed deeply. The others got to their feet as well.

"I…I don't know…" Kagome paused to gulp as she scrambled up. "Thank you," she finally spat breathlessly. Slender tears had appeared, but her eyes and smile had a half-shocked brightness and warmth. '_They've accepted,'_ she thought in disbelief. "You can't imagine what this means to me," she added after she drew in more breath.

"Now, now! None of that! I won't have any silly gloom flung around here like that!" Jinenji's mother cut in before her son could say a word. Her smile had widened as she smoothed her mo-bakama. "If this is going to be your last visit, it will be a cheerful one or else I'll get my boy to shoo you off my property!" At this she gave a bark of a laugh. Kagome couldn't help but laugh softly as well, wiping the thin tears from her cheeks.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Kagome continued, lifting Shippou into her arms. Though his sadness had weakened as well, he still snuggled into her arms for comfort.

Jinenji suddenly blinked with a new idea. "Wait here, I want to give you something, Kagome," he rumbled with a slow grin. The others drew out of the door's way as the large hanyou slipped past them outside and turned out of view.

Kagome opened her mouth again but was cut off as Jinenji's mother raised a finger in interruption. "Don't you dare say thank you again, young lady," she said sternly, but still with a smile. "If there is anyone who needs to say thank you, it is me."

Kagome blinked. "What for?"

The elder woman blinked at her right back as if the question was utterly foolish. "What for, child? If you and your friends hadn't come here in the first place, the villagers would still be beating my boy and burning my house down! If my boy hadn't met you, he would have never seen proper compassion or have learned how to defend himself. If he hadn't become your friend, he'd still be crying in here while I was outside chasing villagers away with my broom," she chuckled. "So thank you, you clueless girl!"

The others weren't quite sure when their laughter slipped in with hers, but soon they were all smiles and chuckles. A few minutes after their mirth calmed down somewhat, Jinenji returned. Settling himself back in his position, his hands were closed together as if holding something between.

"Kagome, I want you to have these," he explained quietly and opened his hands. Sitting in his palms was a rather large brown paper package of various herbs and plants. Kagome recognized almost all of them as healing herbs used for…

"But Jinenji, aren't these for strong injuries? Aren't they for…?" Kagome trailed off.

"They are for your battle, Kagome," he answered in a low murmur. His cheeks were slightly pink, but he beamed happily. "I will not believe that you are dead until I see for myself."

Reddening from gratitude, Kagome placed Shippou down for a moment to take the package in her hands. It was so large that she had to use both her arms' lengths to hold it. Gazing at it for a moment, she looked back up at Jinenji with sheer merriment glittering in her eyes.

"You will wait?" she whispered.

"I promise, Kagome," he answered with a dip of his head. His mother beamed approvingly at him from his elbow.

Once the herbs were packed away and they had filed out of the small hut, they turned for a final time to say farewell to the hanyou and his mother.

"Thank you, Jinenji, for being such a wonderful friend," Kagome said with hands folded at her waist. "I can't believe how lucky I am for having someone to keep a promise like that for me."

Jinenji shook his head. "It is you I need to thank, Kagome. For everything." His grin was wide and warm, blue eyes beaming with a youthful cheer.

Kagome smile mirrored his as she approached and threw her arms around his wide middle in a hug. Surprised a little, Jinenji darkened deeply as he gently patted her back. Pulling apart a little, she stood on her toes to kiss Jinenji's forehead lightly. He darkened even further, if that was possible, as she backed up again. "I'll miss you both so much," she continued, shifting her eyes from him to his mother.

"You hurry back now, you hear me?" Jinenji's mother answered instead.

Kagome couldn't help her giggle. "We will."

Moods restored, they waved their last goodbyes as they turned away down the path. The long garden and wooden hut with its two waving occupants slowly faded into specks and then were swallowed by hills and trees. Hours seemed to pass as a crawling pace as they slowly travelled onward to Kaede's village.

It was near sunset by the time they finally viewed the slender trails of smoke rising from the comfortable wooden huts beside the vast forest. By some strange ability of telepathy, Lady Kaede was outside her hut as if waiting for their arrival. Her white haori reflected the rich gold light behind her. Her lineament expression was no challenge to them as they could already recognize her stern frown. For such an old woman, she could pick up the mood of a group in a heartbeat. Their mirth had waned by a good amount by the time the story was told once more, save the actual plan. They knew without doubt that they could trust the elder miko, but now was not the time to whisper them across. Kagome had to return home.

"I wish there was another way to go about this," Kaede said bitterly as they made their way to the edge of the village, facing the direction of the Bone Eater's Well. Being a strong woman with many years behind her, she had accepted their explanation well enough, if bleakly.

"We all do," Miroku replied with a regretful nod of his head. The rings on his staff jingled as it lay balanced against his shoulder.

Finally they reached the outer edge of the village. Kaede looked sadly at Kagome. "Ye have been a wonderful help to us, child. I wish ye good luck and safe passage."

"Thank you, Kaede," Kagome answered with a small smile and a nod. After a quick goodbye, the group turned once more and began their descent into the forest. Light was growing terribly thin now and they were all tired from the day's travels and heart-weights.

Since that morning, Kagome had done most of the explaining to Jinenji and Kaede, yet now she was deadly silent. Miroku and Sango managed to refrain from glancing at her too closely, but InuYasha ignored that option and openly watched the miko from the corner of his eye.

'_I'm walking home to say goodbye to my family,'_ she thought bitterly. _'I'm going to tell them that I'm leaving them forever so I can go off and die.'_ Could this truly be happening? Barely a week ago her greatest enemies were Naraku and passing grade nine exams, yet now she was struggling against her destiny? Not even a year ago, she had come into the well-house on her grandfather's shrine to find Buuyo because Souta had been too scared to enter. What if she had known then what she knew now? What if she had known at the time that she would fall into the past, shatter a sacred jewel, travel Feudal Japan, see her doom laid out before her, and willingly tear her family's hearts out? _'I'll never see them again, I'll never see my home or my friends again…I'll never see what my life could have been…'_

Soon the Goshinboku tree came into view. The scar of InuYasha's fifty year sleep still lay bare. The hole where Kikyou's arrow had pinned him still punctured the tree trunk. It was the spot she had first seen the silver-haired, short-tempered hanyou. It was the first time she had gazed at the…

…the what? The only man she would ever love in her life? The memory gently drifted up, like a lost water lily petal in a lake.

_"Kagome?" a soft voice asked. She turned her head around and her heart nearly burst as her eyes met his. The pure sight of him made her mind race in the realization that she loved him. She loved him so much...so much that it nearly hurt. Her heart seemed to want to beat its way out of her chest._

Had she thought that? Long ago? It seemed like years had passed since then. She had had no doubts of her feelings for a long time, yet each time her heart beat so, it was like realizing it all over again.

In a few days, her heart would never beat like that again.

Her gaze dropped, but she still walked on. Silver tears appeared and ran down her cheeks in silence, arms firmly at her sides. She dared not raise a hand to wipe them in fear that the others would notice. She had cried too much as of late, she knew. Yet knowing was one thing, stopping was another.

"Kagome?" It was not only one voice, but two. InuYasha's was the first she recognized, but when she looked at his face, he was not looking at her. His eyes were turned away towards Kagome's left. It took her only a moment to realize that Kouga's voice had been the second. Had she been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had not noticed the presence of the jewel shards? What had InuYasha been thinking about that he had not smelled Kouga approach?

"What are _you_ doing here, you filthy wolf?" InuYasha spat, hands already curled into fists.

To Kagome's great surprise, Kouga completely ignored the hanyou. He was staring at Kagome with anxiously heavy blue eyes. A briskly cool breeze made Kagome realize what he was staring at.

"Kouga, I---," was all she managed to get out.

"Was it him?" he demanded. His voice never sounded so cold. His eyes had lost their shocked warmth and were white fury. Not at her though, she was sure.

"What? No, no, of course not! InuYasha didn't do anything to me," Kagome explained, hurriedly drying her cheeks with the back of her hands.

"He's making you say that!" he insisted at the same time InuYasha growled, "What do you mean by that!"

Turning violently to face InuYasha, Kouga hollered out, "Why is she crying you stupid mutt! What did you do to her?"

"Back off! I didn't do anything to her! It's none of your business anyway!" InuYasha roared back.

"Kagome crying is my business! She's my woman after all! I have a right to know---"

"SHE'S NOT YOUR WOMAN!" InuYasha cut in a nearly deafening howl.

"SHUT UP! I love Kagome! I already claimed her as mine so you can just back off!"

"Why you filthy---!"

"STOP!" Kagome screamed between their vicious throws at each other. Her high voice immediately cut through their argument as well as the blackening night. The sun was long gone, but the silver moon made the night bright enough to see clearly.

"Stop fighting already! I'm sick of you two always starting a fight as soon as you see each other!" She heatedly twirled on her heel and threw glares of ice at InuYasha. "InuYasha! If you don't stop it right now I'll sit you until your bones shatter!" InuYasha thumped to the ground by her accident command, but she ignored it stubbornly as she spun towards Kouga. "And you, Kouga! I may not be able to control you the same way, but if you keep this up, I swear I'll make you regret it!" Perhaps her eyes truly did glow red with fury or perhaps it was just the heat in her voice, but it still came as a shock to see the rare dumb-founded look on the wolf youkai's face.

Finally stopping her reign on the two she crossed her arms in front of her, ignoring both the uncomfortable shocked silence and the mumbles of InuYasha as he drew himself back on his feet. When it was confirmed that they would not fight again, Kagome continued.

"Now listen, Kouga, I was not crying because of anything InuYasha did," she began._ 'I'll have to tell him the truth or else he'll keep fighting with InuYasha until I get back,'_ she thought with a suppressed sigh before continuing in a much calmer tone. "It was because of something that I decided to do."

Kouga's face flashed brief curiosity before blinking and waiting for her to explain. Kagome hesitated for a heartbeat once more, but forced herself to plough on. "Kouga, you have to understand that what I am about to tell you was my own choice. No one forced me to. Especially not InuYasha."

When Kouga did not explode again at the hanyou's name, "A few days ago...Miroku discovered the secret to destroying Naraku." Kouga's eyes shot wide open and his mouth began to move in speech, but Kagome hurried on. She had to get this out without interruption or else it would be so much harder. "We already made the plan to defeat him, but I can't tell you anything about it in case some of Naraku's spies are near by." How would he take the truth? Worse than Jinenji or Kaede did, without doubt.

"But then why were you crying, Kagome?" the wolf demon said quietly in her moment of thought.

Her head snapped back up to meet his gaze. She hadn't realized that she had not been looking at him during her explanation. She would have to say it now, there was nothing for it. "Kouga, you have a right to know that part of the plan is for me to…to give up my life."

If she had thought there had been uncomfortable silence before, she was wrong. Kouga's eyes seemed to bore through her skin without a single blink. She knew her face was flushed, though she wasn't sure why, but she firmly stayed beneath his stare.

Without warning, Kouga's face suddenly broke into a wide smile and began laughing in loud woops. The others stared at him in bewilderment, save InuYasha who stared with a desire to kill. Tears were beginning to leak out from the corner of his eyes and he was a step away from slapping his knee when he finally forced himself to calm down. Chuckling under his breath, he rubbed his eyes with the same smile. "That was a good trick, Kagome. I almost believed you for a minute," he admitted casually.

Kagome frowned sadly and pushed back a sigh. Instead, she looked at him with the most serious expression she could muster. "This is not a joke, Kouga. I'm telling the truth."

His mirthful grin dropped a little, but belief was still no where to be seen on his face. "Is this some weird trick the mutt put you up to? 'Cause I get it now and---"

"Kouga." Her voice was not harsh or impatient. If anything, it was pleading. "InuYasha did not put me up to anything."

His smile finally vanished. Blinking, he muttered, "But why would you make up---?"

"Kouga," she repeated, this time with a hint of impatience in her tone. "I am serious. We've found the way to kill Naraku and if we do, I will have to give up my life."

Quiet washed over them. Kouga resumed his staring again, this time the calculations obviously rolling through his head. Suddenly, Kouga snapped his head away from her and threw a vicious death glare at InuYasha. "WHAT DID YOU DO!" he shrieked at him. Kagome resisted throttling him by a hair.

InuYasha opened his mouth to shriek back, but Kagome interrupted him before they could begin scratching at each other's throats again. "He didn't do anything, Kouga! This was my choice! InuYasha was against it the whole time!"

Kouga threw his gaze back at Kagome. "I don't believe it! There's no way you would do something like this! _He_ must have made you do it! I _knew_---!"

"Kouga---"

"No, Kagome! I knew leaving you with that pathetic excuse for a demon would get you in danger! I'm not going to let him take your life! Even if I---!"

"Kouga!" It was not Kagome's voice, but InuYasha's. The wolf demon cut off abruptly and snapped his head towards the hanyou. InuYasha looked calmer than anyone who knew him would have expected. The second surprise came to blow when his friends realized that he had used Kouga's name. Not "shut-up-you-mangy-wolf" or "get-away-from-Kagome" or "say-that-to-my-sword", but plain Kouga.

"I never defend anything Kagome wants when it comes to you, but for once _listen _to her! She is telling the truth and if you deny it now, you'll regret it more than you know! _And don't you dare yell at Kagome again or I'll kill you_."

Stunned silence was present again, save for Kagome's shocked whisper of "InuYasha..."

Kouga broke his stare at the hanyou and switched it to Kagome for a moment before going back. "So you are telling the truth..." he muttered, not to InuYasha, but to Kagome.

"Yes," Kagome breathlessly mumbled back, sounding relieved. As if suddenly realizing again that Kagome was there, he twisted back with a half-surprised look planted on his face, though it soon faded.

"Why..." he whispered, "Why are you doing this, Kagome?"

"I have to," she answered simply. "It's why I came here in the first place."

He took a step closer. "But...why?"

"If Naraku didn't exist, you'd be with your wolf tribe. Sango would be with her brother in their village. Miroku's father would still be alive. InuYasha...InuYasha would have what he's always wanted." _'Best leave it at that,'_ she thought bitterly. "The sacred jewel would be whole. I would still be with my family and I would live to see my next birthday." She gave a shaky breath. "If I don't do this, everything Naraku's done to our lives will never go avenged. His plotting will never stop. I have to do this, Kouga. I have to..."

Kouga's breathing seemed loud to her ears. She could almost hear the thoughts rumbling behind his hard blue eyes.

"I promise," he muttered.

"Kouga?"

"I promise to be there with you," he continued. "I promise to fight with you. If I can't save you, I'll fight for you."

Kagome felt her nose start to tingle, but her eyes felt too dry for tears to flow. "Kouga...I can't..."

"Kagome, I love you. I want to save you from this." He took her hands, but she barely noticed. "But I can't..."

Without warning, Kouga pulled her into his embrace. Holding her tight, he rested his cheek on the side of her head. Kagome waited for InuYasha's hands to rip Kouga away, but it never came. If she could have seen, she'd have seen the hanyou turn away with an unreadable expression. Could he possibly understand?

Kouga pulled Kagome away, but kept her hands. "I have to go home to say goodbye to my family," she said softly. Kouga nodded and reluctantly dropped her hands.

"I promise to be with you on the day of the attack. I'll fight for you in any way I can" was his answer. She nodded thankfully and turned to look at each face of her friends before resting on the well. Approaching it, she looked down into its black depths. This would be her final fall through time...

Turning away, she looked at her friends faces again. Sango's was regretful; Miroku's was a stern sadness. Shippou's was on the verge of tears and Kouga's was like a man going into battle and knowing he'll not survive. InuYasha's...his held a kind of longing. Longing to save, to embrace, to speak. She held his eyes for a few extra moments.

"I'll be back in one day," she said softly, reluctantly. Turning away, she placed one knee on the edge of the well. Hesitating for a moment, she side-glanced back before looking forward again. Pushing herself on, she let herself drop into the dark shadows of time.

---------------

Hoped you liked it. Sorry it took so long to update. I've got many excuses, but you don't want to hear those.

I have a couple of things to say. First of all, Jinenji is _not_ in love with Kagome, so I'm sorry if it appeared that way in this chapter. Second of all, **review**! They are one of the main things I get out of writing fanfictions so please remember to do so!

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to update the next chapter in a week or two. Thank you for your patience!


	5. Eternal Heartbeat

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.

**Chapter 5: Eternal Heartbeat  
**

Once the ground felt solid beneath her feet, Kagome felt a great urge to weep. Stubbornly pushing it down, she clenched her fists and took a deep breath. _'Now is not the time,'_ she reminded herself. Looking up, she heard the scraping song of crickets and the soft whisper of the breeze. All was quiet and dark, just like the shadows of time. Pulling herself up the creaking ladder, she hoisted herself over the edge of the well and set her feet down again. Climbing the stairs, she pushed back the wooden doors to the navy blue carpet of sky, several stars blinking silver in their constellations.

Turning from the sky and its half-moon, she gazed upon her house. There were no lights on; everyone was probably long asleep by now. _'It'd be easier to tell them in the morning,'_ she thought gratefully. Suppressing a sigh, she made towards the front door.

Quietly slipping in, she pulled off her shoes and dropped her backpack beside them. Passing by the rooms, she had just reached the stairs when she heard the moaning yawn of her cat. Freezing in her spot, she waited fearfully for any sound of her waking family. When none came, she made a silent prayer of thanks and began climbing the stairs.

The memory arrived like a flash of lightning. As she placed her foot on the very top step, the almost forgotten memory of slipping and falling face-first came to her. She had been nearly eight at the time and the fall had knocked out a loose tooth. If she hadn't been so relieved to be rid of it, she might have cried. Instead, she whooped happily and began searching for it. It took a solid week to find and for the following week, she had carried it around, believing it to be a magical tooth from its disappearing abilities. By then her Grandpa had placed it in the room with all the other family heirlooms to humour her, but now she supposed it was to get her to let go of it. "The Magical Kagome-Tooth" it was called hence forth.

She managed to stop the giggle from escaping by putting a hand over her mouth. A funny memory. Wallowing in her mirth for the precious remaining time, she reached her room and carefully slipped in. Changing into her pyjamas, she slid under the warm sheets of her bed. She almost expected nightmares of her dark future, but none came. It wouldn't be until the next morning when she would appreciate this final blessing.

It seemed that she had only just placed her head down on her pillow when a great weight seemed to attack her stomach. Bouncing up, she gave a yelp of surprise as Buyo mewed loudly and fled towards her feet. Rubbing her stomach from the cat's scratches, she blinked a few times to clear her vision. _'Morning already? What time is it?_' she thought groggily. Glancing at her clock, she realized just how early it was.

"Did Mom send you up here?" she asked accusingly at Buyo. All she got in reply was a tail swish and a mew. _'She must have seen my shoes and backpack.'_ It _was_ Monday after-all. She should have known that her mother would think Kagome would want to get up early for school. She still wanted to, to say goodbye to her friends, but that did not make waking up early any easier.

Pushing back her blankets, she left the warmth of her bed with a chill. Quickly going through her usual routine, now a bitter thought, she slipped into a fresh school uniform and slowly made her way downstairs. There was nothing for it now. She would have to tell her family the truth and let it be. _'Doesn't mean I have to like it,'_ she thought angrily. She had long accepted her fate, but wonder to how it had happened still dumbfounded her. _'Why?'_ she often wondered to herself, never voicing a single worry.

"Hey, sis," Souta suddenly said, making her jump in brief surprise. At first his face held a cheerful smile, but it slowly melted into slight concern. Trying to wipe the sadness from her own, she put on a smile as well.

"Morning, Souta," she replied. Would she ever get to say that again? It must have shown on her face, for the grin on her brother didn't return. Refusing to mention it, she waited until he went on towards the kitchen before following.

"Good morning, dear," her mother said while slipping fried eggs onto some toast. "I would have let you sleep in a little longer, but I suppose you want to get to school on time." Kagome felt a stab to her heart. How could everything seem so calm and normal while her world was collapsing? Still, she kept the smile and accepted the eggs.

"It's okay, Mom. I did want to get to school today," she answered, staring at her eggs and toast. Slowly starting to eat them, she stubbornly ignored the feel of Souta's suspicious eyes on her. How would she begin?

"Ah, Kagome! So nice to see you again." Turning in her chair, she spotted her Grandpa walking into the kitchen with his roll of newspaper tucked under his arm. Carefully masking the sudden sting from her face, she returned his greeting. It was not his appearance that hurt her, but his words. "Nice to see you again" sounded as if she were a distant relative coming for a visit for a day or two. Had she become that detached from her family and home?

"Morning, Grandpa," she said nonetheless. He nodded in reply and automatically went to his chair and hid himself behind the newspaper. Buyo crawled into his lap, but the elder man ignored the meowing.

'_I have to tell them now. I have to,'_ she thought sullenly. Looking up from her breakfast, she eyed each member of her family. Her mother had that same small smile that she had held the day Kagome had told her of the Feudal Era. Souta was frowning into his eggs with a furrowed brow. Her Grandpa was hidden from view, but she had no doubt that he had a similar frown while reading the news. Buyo, of course, was trying to paw his toast.

"I have something to tell you," she said suddenly before she could stop herself. Since when did her conscience jump out like that? Souta's head shot up at her while her Grandpa and mother took a moment to glance up. Might as well keep going now that it began.

"What is it, Kagome?" her mother asked calmly. Her small smile was half-gone as if she had read her daughter's mind.

Resisting a scowl, Kagome struggled to maintain eyelevel. She had to look straight at them if she wanted a chance at getting through this. "I, um..." she stumbled unsure how to begin the story, despite this being the fourth time. "I have a problem," she finally stated.

When they did not interrupt, she took a small breath and continued. "You guys already know about the feudal era and Naraku and everything..." she trailed, "Well, um...we found out how to finally defeat him..."

"That's wonderful, Kagome!" her Grandpa cut in, slapping his knee with cheer and setting down his newspaper.

Kagome smiled blandly, though she did try to put her heart into it. It was wonderful that that problem had been solved, but she regretted it meaning another problem born. "We made the plan and everything, but..." She clasped her hands together. They didn't shake this much when she was telling the others.

"What is it?" Souta asked.

"I..." _'I will die! Just say it!'_ Tears slowly began leaking out of the corner of her eyes despite herself. How could Naraku do this? Her family didn't deserve this! They didn't! "If we go through with it, I will have to die." She gave up trying to hold back the tears, letting them flow silently. Refusing to wipe her eyes clean, she kept her arms at her sides, awaiting their reaction.

Only Souta grinned in disbelief. He almost looked relieved as if knowing this was all this was a joke. Knowing. He was still a little boy, a child not even into his fourth year at school. Breaking that innocence made her want to rip out Naraku's heart right then and there.

Her mother and Grandpa's faces were expressionless. She could almost see their calculating thoughts, trying to figure out if she was serious. Her Grandpa seemed to be staring at her as if she really did have one of the illnesses he had conjured up. That compared to Souta's grin made new tears flow out again, still soundless.

"Souta," she whispered after a short sob. She wanted to say more, she wanted to say much more, but her tears would not allow it. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the grin vanished in a flash from her little brother's face. Her fingers itched to reach Souta and hug him. He was her kid brother, her baby brother, her only brother. He was too young to learn that his sister was doomed to death. Much too young.

"K-Kagome?" he muttered, eyes wide. Wide with fear of the truth, she was sure. Much too young. "Kagome, I don't...?" His voice quivered slightly, eyes unblinking.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," was all she could say. A hand darted up to rub her cheeks for a minute before dropping again. Had she truly experience despair before? No, she couldn't have. She knew what despair was now. It was the face of her only brother in that eternal heartbeat.

"No..." he muttered, tears swelling up in his own eyes. "No, you're lying!" They began to flow. "You're lying, Kagome! No!" He half stood up as if to flee. Staring at his sister, he did not move.

"Shh, everything's all right, Souta." Kagome did not say this, but her mother. Darting her water-filled eyes towards her, Kagome felt a small shock. Her face was the image of winter, eyes cold and stoic enough to shame even Sesshomaru. She felt her nose tickle, but she suppressed it.

"Mom?" Kagome uttered softly.

Looking upon her, the older woman gave a small sigh. The ice seemed to melt sadly from her eyes and was replaced with a strange emotion. Never in her life had she seen that face. It was like a distant hopelessness, carefully hidden yet never subdued. Misery, concern, acceptance, and fury all seemed to weave together in a jumble.

Instead of answering, she got up and came closer to Kagome and took another chair. "Kagome," she said slowly, not a hint of a tear in her eyes. "Is this something that you truly need to do?"

Kagome gulped uncertainly but said, "Yes."

Her mother drank the answer in and after a moment, replaced it with, "And there is no other way?"

"No," she gave in bitterly.

Another sigh hissed free as the dry sadness returned. She raised her thumb to wipe a tear from Kagome's cheek before wrapping her other arm around her daughter's shoulders and pulling her in a little. Kagome rested her cheek against her mother's shoulder. A few moments passed as the two cradled each other gently. Eternity. Eternity wasn't enough.

"Kagome," she cooed gently. "I love you and I will always love you no matter what." Kagome's breath caught at her simple answer. "Souta will always love you and your Grandpa will always love you." Shifting her chin to her daughter's forehead, she took Kagome's hand. "I will not ask why you need to do this. If you say you truly need to, I believe you." There was no doubt of her slow smile. "You do what you need to." She had said that once before. Long ago. The problem was very different than this one, but it seemed to warm Kagome nonetheless.

Kagome gave a small giggle and sniffed. Her mother had always been excellent at making people feel better. She would miss her after her task was done. A bitter thought, but the warmth around her weakened it. "I love you, mom," she whispered. It was amazing how much heart could go into four words. Reaching up, she kissed her mother on the cheek.

After they pulled away, her mother looked to her son. "Souta, I will phone your school about you being absent today. Kagome, would you like to go to school to say goodbye to your friends?" The woman was a mind-reader. She would miss that too, surprisingly.

"Yeah, I think so. Just for a little while." Sniffing again, she cleaned the remaining tears. Following her mother in standing, she nearly laughed at the serenity of her mother's face.

"Don't forget to finish your breakfast," said that calmly smiling face. This time Kagome did laugh. The world could be toppling around her, but she still had to finish her breakfast.

"Oh, before I forget, I have some things to give you, Kagome," her Grandpa suddenly said. Scurrying out of the room, the others listened to loud bangs and rustles followed by a door slam. The elder man re-entered the room, a gigantic brown sack in his hands.

Kagome stared as he plopped the bag at her feet. "What's all this, Grandpa?"

He opened the bag and started to rummage for something inside it. "It's a few things I've been saving over the years. Should come in handy for your battle," he answered determinedly. With no doubt of the bag's contents left, Kagome waited with a strained smile as her Grandpa drew out item after item from the bag and piled it into Kagome's hands.

"Here's a foot of a lizard demon; good for digestion, mind you. Oh and a few sacred scrolls handed down by my father's father's father's father. Very handy when you want to purify a demon, these are. Powder of a cow's liver for bruises, hair of a wolf demon for small cuts, dried leaves of an ancient Sokinai tree for fevers, bone of a priest's chicken for...hum, what was this for again? Oh yes, I remember now. If you stick it in a dark spirit's eye, it will kill it." With a grin, he slipped the bone into a purple velvet cloth and placed it into Kagome's arms. Her face was obscured from all the gifts, but no doubt there was a tired smile on her face.

"Thanks, Grandpa," she said, sliding the objects back into the bag for easier carriage. She knew he meant well, though none of his so-called "heirlooms" had worked as of yet. She would cherish every one of them.

"It was no trouble at all, Kagome. You just remember to use them," he answered with a proud grin. Kagome laughed as she placed the heavy bag back on the ground.

She supposed that time flew quickly now to make up for the eternities that had rolled by before. After breakfast, she bid a quick peck on the cheek to her family members, Souta blushing like a cherry. She was almost ready to leave when her hand stopped half-way as it reached to open the door. It dropped suddenly and she slowly glanced back.

"What is it, dear?" her mother asked kindly, hands folded together before her and lips curved in a loving smile. Exactly how Kagome always remembered her.

"Mom," she began, but trailed off a little. A small breath, she finished with, "Thanks, Mom. For everything."

Her smile grew, but her eyes saddened. She said no word, only watched her daughter. "You go on to school, dear." Only the sky could know how much she would miss her mother.

A desire to weep pulsed within Kagome, but it was buried deep. She had said the truth now; there was no time for crying anymore. She knew one thing; her family's tears would not be in vain. Naraku would pay. He would die for his sins. Her family's broken hearts would be avenged. No time for crying anymore.

She left the house and began her walk to school. It was almost a surprise, a relief really, that her mind remained quiet through her journey. Her last journey to school as a normal, regular teenage girl of Tokyo, Japan. Except it was not normal, she was going only to say goodbye to her friends, her last goodbye.

The school's square white-brick building broke into her sight. She passed through the front doors and automatically steered herself to her first class. She had such little time left, but this was time to burn. She did not need it, especially now that these classes did not matter. Only her friends mattered, her family, her life, her duty. Sitting down, she gazed at the students around her, envious of their simple lives. Lives that would not end tomorrow. Lives that would breathe on for years to come.

Her second class was the same until at last the lunch period rang free and students fled the school. Among them were the three faces of her friends. As she hurried towards them, a thought occurred to her. What would she tell them? She could not tell them the truth about the Feudal Era, they would not believe it. Yet if she didn't tell them, what conclusion would they make? Their friend would be vanishing without a reason. It might not be that much of a problem five hundred years in the past, but in the present a missing person would be investigated, their friends and family questioned. Why had she not seen this coming?

Her chance to think died as she was spotted. Her friends were waving to her, scurrying towards her like puppies to a mother. They were different from her Feudal era friends. Very different. She knew it was unkind to think so, but she didn't believe she would miss these friends as much as she would Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Kirara, and InuYasha. She had practically grown up with these friends, and a year away from them was enough to shift her loyalties? It made her sick to her stomach, no doubt showing on her face. This, perhaps, was one of the reasons they looked so concerned.

"Kagome! You feel well enough to come to school?" Ayumi asked politely. Their worried grins went unanswered.

"It's been a while since you were last here. What did your..." she dropped her voice, "psychiatrist say about you condition?"

"Erm..." Kagome stuttered. _'Back to metal problems am I?'_ she thought sarcastically.

"Tell us about it later, we should get to lunch already. I'm starving!" Yuka complained, giving a light laugh. The others agreed and began to walk towards the local fast food restaurant. Kagome sighed and followed.

Once seated, they quickly ordered their food, giving plenty of room to talk.

"So, Kagome, how has everything been? How've you been feeling?" Eri asked, sipping her coca cola.

"Yeah, your Grandpa told us that you had to start sessions with some psychiatrist. He said that it was getting really hard managing all the doctor appointments you needed, especially now with your...other problem," Yuka stated. Kagome didn't bother to ask what her new problem was. Chances were she didn't want to know.

"Well, guys, you see..." Kagome trailed off a little. _'What should I tell them?'_ she thought, desperately stretching out for an excuse. _'I'm moving away for a special doctor... no that would mean Mom and the others have to move as well. Oh, I can't lie to them about this! What should I...?'_

"Kagome?" It was Eri's voice. Kagome looked up, surprised that she had dropped her gaze. "What is it?" She would have to tell it like it was.

"Guys, I have something really important to tell you. I don't know how...how I should say this except by saying it straight out," she said in a low voice. She blinked slowly and took a breath. Then, she steadied her gaze until she look squarely into her friends' faces. "Yesterday I...I found out that I am...I'm..." _'I can't tell them! They won't believe...I don't know...What should I...?'_ "I have to go away for a while. A long while. I...don't really know if I'll ever be able to come back..." _'I can't believe I just said that! How can I lie to them like that?'_ She fought down the urge to kick herself.

They were silent. They were so silent. She hated it! Speak already! Say something! Ayumi was the first to blink in surprise and jostle herself out of her stare. "Going away? What...what do you mean?"

"I...um..." Kagome searched for an answer. _'Now what?'_ "I told you about how my...boyfriend...lives far away right? Well I have to go live with him and some friends for a while. It's really complicated...I don't..."

They certainly took that differently than she expected. Their faces switched to looks of utter horror in less time than it would take one to blink.

"Kagome..." Yuka whispered in a voice of pure terror, "You aren't...I mean, you don't mean..." She paused to gulp. "You aren't dropping out of school to run off and marry that guy or something...are you?"

Heat flooded into Kagome's cheeks so fast that the others blinked in surprise. Eri half raised her hand as if to check Kagome's temperature.

"M-marry? M-Marry I-InuYasha?" The words tumbled out of her mouth in a breathless race. "I n-never...he would n-never..." All chance of sane speech left Kagome so she simply took that chance to close her gaping mouth and work some moisture back into it. _'Marry InuYasha? Where on earth did they get that idea? Besides, he would never...he wouldn't...'_ Only then did she realize how foolish her thoughts were. Forcing them to silence, she struggled to get her next words straight. "No, I...that's not the reason I'm leaving. I...I can't really tell you the reason." Her lips stayed parted for a second longer as if to continue, but she thought better of it and closed them.

"Why not?" Ayumi asked.

'_You wouldn't believe me even if I told it to you,'_ she thought sullenly. "I made a promise," was what she said. Not entirely the truth, she knew, but it wasn't a lie either. She had made the promise to fix what she had started in the Feudal era. They would probably think different. The way she said it seemed to imply that she had promised not to tell them her reason. Perhaps for once she should let them believe blissful ignorance.

"When will you be back?" Yuka asked.

Kagome frowned at her lap. "I don't think I will be."

"Well, can't you come back for visits?" she added quietly.

No time for crying anymore. "No, I can't." She couldn't say any more. Oh if she could only tell her friends the entire truth! This would be so much easier! "I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I just...I just wanted to come to school to say goodbye to you guys." Naraku would pay.

"Kagome..." That was Ayumi's voice. Each friend had the identical look of lost sadness. Each would be losing a friend that day.

"Hey, Kagome!" The sudden voice had a sick cheerfulness to their ears. Kagome looked up from her teary-eyed friends and met the face of Houjou. "Mind if I join you?" All he needed was a vague nod from Eri to slide in beside her, opposite of Kagome. The fool didn't even notice their expressions or the depressed aura hanging like a dry cloud over their table.

"How are you feeling, Kagome?" he asked kindly. He had always been kind. Blind, yes, but always kind.

"Much better," Kagome answered wearily. Houjou had the right to know she would be leaving too, she had to admit. He might have been a pain to avoid with all those date requests popping up, but he was still a friend. "Houjou, I have some bad news..."

"Oh?" That grin never wavered. Not even a little.

"I, um...I'm going to be going away for a long while. I'm staying with a few friends a long way from here and I don't think I'll be able to come back, even for visits." Not as bitter as with her friends or family, but it wasn't the happiest time of her life either.

Finally that smirk faded into nothing. He was looking at her with a blank shock, stronger than she had expected, even from him. "You...you're moving away?" What did she expect? The guy _did_ obviously like her.

"Just me, not my family," she replied. "I'm really sorry, Houjou."

"Wow, I don't..." He looked away from her to the white plastic bag beside his foot. Rubbing his head with a hand, he seemed to search for the right words. "I don't know what to say, Kagome..."

'_What can you say? Nothing, really,'_ Kagome thought. What if it wasn't her "moving" away? What if it was Eri or Yuka or Ayumi? What would she have said?

"I knew that you were avoiding me a little, but I..." he trailed away a little. _'Perhaps he isn't that blind,'_ Kagome thought sarcastically. "...I would have never have guessed that you'd be so shy that you had to move away entirely." _'Never mind,'_ Kagome added, disappointed.

"No, Houjou, I'm not---" Kagome began.

"No, it's all right, Kagome," Houjou interrupted, his smile renewed. "Perhaps I was pushing a little too hard. I did ask you out a lot of times. I'm really sorry I pressured you into this. Here..." He reached down and pulled the plastic bag into his lap. Rummaging around in it, he took out some kind of pack. "I got this for your stomach aches, but I guess it's a going-away gift now." He even chuckled! It was amazing how resilient to sadness that boy was.

Kagome tore her wide eyes away from Houjou and dropped them to the pack lying in front of her. _'Of course, what else could it be?'_ she thought, unaware of her amused grin.

"Fish-heads?" she asked.

"Yeah, if you boil them with your soup or tea, it'll help stop any stomach aches. It tastes a little authentic, but it works really well." Authentic. Another word for revolting.

Nonetheless, Kagome took the pack of preserved fish-heads and slipped them into her bag. "Thank you, Houjou," and she meant it. The boy may be unbelievably blind, but he had kept fighting for her affection, regardless of the apparent illnesses, diseases, mental disorders, and fungi she had caught.

She had been wrong. She would miss these friends as much as she would the ones in the Feudal era. They may be different, but that was part of the reason she wanted to come back here every once in a while, she realized. Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi may be three girls with an obsession of Kagome's love life, but they were loyal and warm. They had accepted her bland reason for leaving forever and they have even managed to make her blush over InuYasha for a final time. Houjou may be rather naïve and overly-calm, but his smile was always friendly and his support always waiting. Loyal, warm, friendly, and supporting. Just like InuYasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippou. Tears began to swell in her eyes. She would miss them. Those stupid, idiotic, blind, loving, friendly, supportive friends. She would miss them all. For an eternal heartbeat, she realized how much she would miss them.

Far away down an ancient wooden well in the Higurashi shrine grounds, a lordly dog youkai walked along a forest path calmly and stoically. Beside him was a little girl in a white and orange plaid dress and a small toad youkai in a brown kimono with a tall two-headed staff.

"Where are we going, my Lord? You haven't said a word since yesterday," the little girl pondered as she skipped alongside the lordly demon.

"Hush, Rin! Lord Sesshomaru does not need to explain everything to you! You are only a child! You wouldn't understand anyway!" The toad demon shook a green-scaled fist at the young girl.

"I didn't ask you, Master Jaken! I asked Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin revolted, her own fists and pouting frown glaring at the small demon.

It took the two of them a moment to realize that Sesshomaru had halted. Both peeked around him to see what had brought their Lord to a stop. It was a woman, her face identical to pale death. Despite the whiteness, it seemed to add to her overall cold beauty with her long black hair and white miko haori and red hakama. A full quiver and bow were strapped to her back, but her eyes seemed cold enough to kill a man with a simple stare.

"You are Lord Sesshomaru, are you not?" the woman asked. "InuYasha's older brother?"

Sesshomaru's cold golden eyes narrowed at his younger brother's name. "What is it you want?"

"Who's that?" Rin whispered to Jaken, crouching slightly to reach his ear.

"Don't you know anything, you foolish girl? That's Kikyou, the woman that pinned InuYasha to a tree," he answered in a scolding tone. All it took was a slight side-glance from Sesshomaru to make him freeze in his tracks as if struck by lightning.

"I am here to inquire about something. Tell me, have you met with the demon wind sorceress, Kagura, as of late?" Kikyou's eye was firm, unrelenting. She was as strong a master of stoic faces as Sesshomaru was.

Still, it seemed that you could get more emotion from a river stone than you could from Sesshomaru's face right then. "I do not know what you are talking about," he answered in a voice of icy wind.

Surprisingly, Kikyou's face smoothed into a warm, glad smile. "That was all the answer I needed," she said quietly. Holding his gaze for a moment longer, she turned and strode back the way she came. A high hiss of a strange note drifted around her and the shapes of odd floating white serpents began to surround her. She faded from sight before they could make out more.

Sesshomaru stared after her for a few moments. "My Lord? What was she talking about?" Rin asked, gazing up at the youkai.

He didn't answer. He didn't even turn to look at her. After a moment, he muttered, "Come, Rin," and began his pace again. Rin blinked after him but wasted no time in obeying, Jaken doing the same.

* * *

Finally I'm done this chapter! Such a relief, heh. Took a rather long time, sorry about that. I hope the next chapter isn't the same. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and thank you soooo much for all the reviews! 


	6. Thank you, InuYasha

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha.

**Chapter 6: Thank you, InuYasha**

It had always felt cold, the gap between times. Light filled the air around her, but it didn't seem to have a source. It was simply a blue light hanging in the nothingness of time travel. Distant swirls swam further on, out of reach. She could remember how at times she wondered if those swirls were the entrance to other times, other people, other lives. It always gave her a thrill and made her stomach tie itself up in a knot when she thought of those possibilities. Still, this was her home, her passage to one half of her life. This was the last time she would touch this blissful cold light that caressed her like the push of an ocean's wave. It was her last leap into the past.

She almost thought she would regret feeling the solid ground of the well beneath her feet. That sensation was duty, destiny, and death. She wished she could remain here, hanging in time where there were no Narakus, no shards, no pressures, no worries, and no dreads. She wished she could stay in this carrying air, weightless and wandering, her mind at peace and her heart at rest.

Opening her eyes, she felt the blue light fade from her sight and the walls of the old well close around her. Weightless. That was not her destiny, that was not the choice her fate had made. Her destiny was within Naraku where her friends could be saved and her task finished. Her destiny had long been chosen. She began climbing the wooden ladder.

It was morning in the Feudal Era. The sun was warm on her cold skin and the wind was soft as it blew in sweet scents of blossoms and tall grass. Clouds of billowy white drifted sleepily across the sky. The morning beauty would be sorely missed. Kagome sighed and crossed down towards the old gravel path that wove between the forest trees for the last time. Her mind was silent. Not a single thought swam through, not a single regret or memory or hope. It was the silence of acceptance, the silence of bitter wait and preparation. Kagome knew she was ready now.

The village opened before her. Simple village folk, men and women and children, all with lives that scurried on amongst themselves. She smiled at them, a warm curve of her lips with all the life she could muster. They would live on and she was glad. She was glad that she could do something for them to live on in bliss and happiness. Naraku was just an ominous cloud hanging over their heads and she had been given the ability to save them from his terrors. That was what her destiny truly was.

Lady Kaede was the first she met. The elder woman had already been up since before dawn on miko errands of her own. The sister of the woman whom she was reincarnated from. Kagome almost felt as if Lady Kaede was her own sister. _'I always wanted a sister,'_ she thought with a small wave to the older woman. _'And now I have one, just in time.'_ Kagome gave her a warm smile as they approached one another.

"Good morning, Kagome," she greeted kindly. Her smile was affectionate, but her eyes held something behind them. Kagome thought she knew what. "Come inside," she added, taking Kagome's elbow and leading her toward the hut. "It's good you've come with a smile," she whispered to the teen, making Kagome's smile widen. She had been right.

"Kaede," she began, stopping her walk for a moment. The decision had already been made; there should be no reason for her to hesitate. Still her eyes were downcast as she fiddled with the edge of her skirt, smoothing it out though there were no wrinkles.

"What is it, child?" Kaede asked, turning to face her. Being much shorter than Kagome, she managed to draw the teen's eyes up from her skirt without much effort.

"Kaede," she muttered again. Pausing for a soft breath, she forced herself to form the words in her mind before speaking them. "After...After we defeat Naraku and the jewel becomes whole again, Miroku will give it to you. I want you to give it to InuYasha. I want him to make the wish."

Kaede watched her for a moment, her expression thoughtful. "He will wish you alive again," she said quietly, knowingly.

Kagome sighed, her eyes flowing with a pitied sadness. "He will want to, but I...I don't think he will be able to. I can't explain it really, but I just know it will be impossible to bring me back... like Kikyou was." _'When I purify Naraku, the jewel will be purified as well. My soul will be inside of the jewel then, because I will give my life for it. That's why I can't be brought back, because my soul is what will keep the jewel pure,'_ she thought. _'If my soul is called back, then the jewel will become tainted. Who knows what will happen then.'_ The thought was chilling. What could happen if the jewel became tainted again? If that happened, it would probably be destroyed along with InuYasha's wish. It would be impossible to revive her, true, but from the taint the demons battling Midoriko inside the jewel would most likely be released. They would cause even more trouble than Naraku.

'_I can trust him,'_ Kagome thought with confidence. InuYasha was not a fool. He knew how important Kagome's choice was to her. Wishing something like that would be dishonouring, it would be like cheating. It would be better if he wished for something else like...like wishing Kikyou alive again. Her heart tensed for a brief moment, but she let it slip away from her. This was no time for sulking about things like that.

Kaede gave a small sigh and nodded lightly. "Very well, my child. InuYasha shall receive the jewel."

"Thank you, Kaede," Kagome replied, a warm, grateful smile brightening her face a little. Kaede returned the smile before the two of them turned to enter the small hut.

Miroku and Sango were inside. The taijiya was already in her battle suit and was busy cleaning her Hiraikotsu. The houshi was watching her with his staff propped up against his shoulder. Both of them seemed the centre of serenity, yet it was given away by a fierce hand-shaped mark on Miroku's cheek. The story explained itself. At the back of the hut was a small pack, probably full of Jinenji's herbs in preparation for the battle. Their smiles were identically affectionate. Not pitiful, thank goodness, but supporting and friendly.

"Good morning, Kagome," said Sango, putting down her weapon to raise herself to her feet. Miroku did the same.

"Morning," she replied back. They said nothing about her farewells to her family. Silently she thanked them. She didn't need to look around the hut to be able to tell that Shippou and InuYasha were not there. Setting down her backpack, she asked about them.

"I don't know where InuYasha is, but Shippou went out to gather a few more herbs in the forest," Miroku answered.

As if naming him had been a summon, soft footfalls erupted from outside the hut. "Kagome!" came the happy cry of the kitsune youkai as he leaped past the door and onto Kagome's shoulder. The young girl laughed as Shippou hugged her with his small arms. "I'm so happy you're back!"

"Shippou," Kagome said cheerfully as she took him from her shoulder to cradle him in her arms. "How have you been?" The sun could not hold more warmth than Kagome felt for this little child. He was almost a son, or another brother, if anything.

"Terrible," Shippou replied, face twisted in a scowl. "It was so lonely and dark yesterday. InuYasha kept running away every time I tried to talk to him."

Kagome blinked in surprise. It was no secret that the two of them had their share of disputes, but InuYasha always had some kind of reason for refusing to talk to Shippou. What was the reason this time? "Do you know where he is, Shippou?"

"Me?" The kitsune blinked. "Isn't he with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday night he went down the well without telling anyone, but I saw him sneaking off to the forest. I thought he would come back with you," he answered.

'_He came through the well?'_ If that was true, why didn't she see him? Why didn't he speak to her? "Don't worry; I'm sure he's here somewhere. He probably came back late last night or something." She tried to bring back that tender smile for the child kitsune.

"Still, maybe we should search around a bit. We can't leave without him," Sango added in, bending down to pick up Kirara. Straightening again, she noticed a sly smirk on Miroku's face and calmly gave him another handful around the face, just for safe measures. Amazingly enough, his only reaction was a face of _'damn, she caught me.'_

Ignoring the houshi, Kagome nodded. It would be best. She was sure InuYasha was in no danger, but they couldn't just sit here and wait for him to return and they couldn't start off without him.

Soon Kagome was looking upon the old forest once more as she walked calmly down the path towards its heart. Shippou walked beside her, his small face frowning in amusing determination. Miroku and Sango had agreed that he might be at the well still, but they volunteered to continue looking elsewhere, just in case he had gone off to the village streams or pathways. Sango didn't seem to mind this, but to the irritation of Miroku, that was because Kirara had transformed into her larger version and walked between them.

"InuYasha is such an idiot. How many times is he going to run off like this?" Shippou said, clenching his small fists in front of him with a pouting face. "Do you have any idea why he's been acting like this, Kagome? I mean, he's been much quieter than usual." His fists melted as the small youkai looked up at her.

Kagome hesitated in shaking her head, but chose to stay silent. She knew very well why InuYasha was acting like this. Everyday since the plan had first been made his words had slowly dropped one by one into silence. She had recognized it immediately. InuYasha was gradually trying to accept that she would die and the only way he knew to deal with that was by detaching himself from the others, just as he had done before. Her heart felt a small stab; he was going through the same things that she was. He was feeling the same pains that she was.

'_But why?'_ she couldn't help but wonder. InuYasha had chosen Kikyou already, didn't he? He shouldn't be showing this much emotion. He would show some, of course, but only because they were friends and because it was a depressing situation. Still, if he had already begun to accept it, why hide from her?

'_Because he loves you,'_ a tiny voice said in the back of her mind. Immediately she felt herself blush. Trying to hide her face from Shippou, she attempted to think of other things, but it was futile. _'He loves me as a friend,'_ she tried to tell herself, but the possibility, the hopeful possibility, still shown with golden belief. _'I know I love him, but he doesn't love me the same way.'_ He loved Kikyou, not her reincarnation. Sighing, she gave up trying to push back that tiny hope and miraculously, it vanished from her thoughts.

Suddenly she realized that it was not her will that had made that wish vanish. It took her a moment to register that Shippou had stopped and when she looked up, she realized why. InuYasha was sitting on the edge of the well, his face down towards the dirt and his silver hair cascading over his red kimono. Suddenly he raised his head and locked his eyes upon them. Kagome's heart floated away.

It felt as if someone had grabbed her breath and torn it away from her. That one glance of golden eyes surrounded by silver hair was the first face she had seen when coming into this era. It was the face of her best friend, her hanyou protector, her first and only heart. She couldn't look away, not from his stare. The wish had not vanished, it had fled. He was everything she had ever hoped for. She loved him and if he didn't return it, then so be it. She'd rather him be happy with someone else than vainly trying to get him to love her. That dear hanyou, he was...

"Kagome?" Shippou's voice shattered her thoughts.

Realizing her face was on fire, she darted her hand up to try covering it by rubbing her nose. "It's nothing," she muttered back to the kistune. Without hesitation she bent down and picked him up before beginning to climb the hill towards the well and InuYasha. Desperately she tried to calm her beating heart, oblivious to the way InuYasha stared at her with distant eyes. When they reached the top, Shippou opened his mouth to speak, to scold InuYasha no doubt, but Kagome interrupted him. "Shippou, why don't you go and find Miroku and Sango and tell them we found him? There's no point to them searching now."

Shippou blinked at Kagome, but shut his mouth and nodded. Jumping down from Kagome, he reached into his vest and drew out a small green leaf. Jumping into the air, he threw it above him with a small grunt. There was a small poof and a couple of white clouds before Shippou transformed into a large pink floating ball with gigantic eyes to match. Without a word he floated away back towards the village.

Once he was gone, Kagome realized that she would have to confront InuYasha about his absence. A clear-thinking Kagome would. Taking a silent breath, she turned from Shippou's shrinking image and found herself tongue-tied once more. InuYasha was now watching Shippou float away as well with eyes to fit a dead sea. He didn't seem quieter, he seemed dead. She had never seen him like this before.

"InuYasha?" she found herself asking in a hushed voice. Instead of being pulled from his daze, he slowly sighed and turned to look at her. What had happened to those golden eyes? Why did they seem so rusted and tired? "InuYasha, what's wrong?"

He didn't answer. He barely kept his eyes on her long enough before he suddenly got up and began to circle around her. She kept her gaze on him, but he didn't stop. "InuYasha," she began while reaching out and touching his shoulder. His reaction was one that she hadn't expected. He sharply pulled away. He pulled away and didn't turn back.

"InuYasha, wait," Kagome said desperately. This was not like him. He never acted this way to her. She felt worry build higher and higher within her. "Wait." Her emotions poured out in that one word. Everything. Worry, despair, desperation, fatigue, compassion...everything. InuYasha stopped. "Please," she whispered and he gradually turned around to look at her. Well, not her exactly, but her feet.

"What is it?" was all he said. His voice was so cold, like dry ice, like winter shore waves. It was so much like his brother, Sesshoumaru. Unknowingly, she began to back away from him until she felt her heels kick the edge of the well. Automatically she dropped down on the edge and clutched the wood in shaking fists. Something was wrong with him, it had to be. This was not her normal InuYasha.

"What happened?" The whispered words slipped from her mouth. She blinked hard and forced herself to look at him. Even his face held that same stoic look.

Maybe he was simply refusing to answer or maybe he was rolling other thoughts in his mind, but Kagome knew better. He was hesitating. One scrap of the old InuYasha. She felt a little of the tension inside of her loosen, but it was only a twinge and no more. Patiently she waited for his answer. She'd wait forever if she had to.

Eventually, a stitch of the ice in his golden eyes chipped off. He turned from her, not towards the village path, but the Goshinboku. Gazing at it with, hatred? He tore his eyes away and sat down on the grass. Kagome gained a flicker of understanding. Immediately she rose from her seat to join InuYasha on the grass hillside. Circling her arms around her legs, she hugged them to her chest as she sat beside him. She watched the God Tree, examining the scar and arrow-head hole that had been InuYasha's sleeping place for fifty years. What could he be thinking? Why was he angry at the Goshinboku? She was just about to open her mouth to speak when InuYasha's voice rang through her thoughts.

"Why?" he was saying. Kagome blinked, trying to puzzle out what he meant. "Why did you have to do it?" he continued. Gently he turned his gaze from the elder tree and locked eyes with Kagome.

"I..." What did he mean, why did she do it? Was it the plan to kill Naraku he was talking about? It had to be that. "It's my job, InuYasha. I have to be the one to end this whole--"

"No, not that," he cut in, turning away from her again to glare at the scar on the old tree. He didn't seem to intend to say anything else.

"Then what is it?" she asked gently, tilting her head to look at his face, though he refused to meet her eyes again.

He hesitated again, thank the sky above. He opened his mouth, but closed it for a moment again before finally saying what was on his mind. "Why did you have to free me from Kikyou's spell?"

Kagome felt taken aback. Why did she free him? Why on earth was he regretting that? "Don't you remember? There was that demon that was attacking the village and you were the only one strong enough to kill it. You even told me to--"

"No, Kagome, that's..." he cut in for the second time, but trailed off. Taking a breath, he finished, "That's not it either. I don't mean why you freed me but...why did...I mean, what made you...oh I don't even know how the hell to say it!" Irritated with himself, he got up from his seat to storm away, but Kagome got up fast enough to lay a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from running away again.

"Please, InuYasha...I...I don't want to see you like this," Kagome said sadly. She felt him loosen slightly, but no more than a thimble.

She heard him hiss a sigh before he slowly turned around to face her, making her hand drop. He had lost that stoic face, but neither could she decipher any other emotion besides a head full of battling thoughts. She didn't want to see him like this. He seemed to be in so much pain, but it was different pain than what she was experiencing.

"InuYasha?" she whispered.

He was looking straight at her eyes with no hint of the embarrassment she was used to seeing from him. "Kagome...It's just that...I want to know why." He faced her a little more squarely, his tall figure looming over her. Despite that, his stance was gentle, almost defeated. "Why...did you free me? Why did you come here in the first place?" He gave a brief sigh and sadness flowed into his gaze. "Why did you trust me?"

Kagome watched him with wide eyes. She drank in his words, piecing together what it was he was trying to say. He seemed to withdraw slightly as if ashamed of his questions. "I should have...I should have just stolen the jewel from you and sent you back. I should never have let you stay here. But...I...I didn't, Kagome. There just has to be a reason that you're...that you have to..."

Suddenly it hit her like a wave. She felt something leap into her heart with a vengeance, but it was soothing and affectionate. "InuYasha..." She didn't even notice the name slip from her lips. It all made sense now. The way he had been acting, his detachment from the others, his following her into her time...

He wanted to know how everything had come to this. He wanted to know why the two of them had been forced to go through all of this. She had come to the past, freed him, and managed to melt some of the ice around his heart. The ice that had been there since the death of his mother and the trickery of Naraku. He had accepted the connection that had grown between them, but now that Kagome's fate was spelled out before her, he felt responsible for not stopping it earlier. His entire life he had felt the need to be strong and swift, but now he was faced against something that he could not stop. It was from this guilt he tried to rip himself away from her. Only it didn't work. He had followed her back to her time. For what reason, though? If he had wanted to separate himself from her to try and deal with her fore-planned death, why had he voluntarily followed her?

"But then, InuYasha..." she whispered, her eyes beginning to fog. "Why...did you come after me yesterday?"

He blinked in momentary surprise. "How'd you find out?" he asked in a serious tone.

Kagome didn't realize she was smiling lightly. "Shippou told me," she explained.

InuYasha furrowed his brow, but to Kagome's astonishment, he chuckled slightly. "I'll kill that damn kid," he muttered, though it was clear there was no real anger in him. After a small grunt he continued with, "No, Kagome. That's...that isn't why I came." The small curve of lips was gone from his face. The same went for Kagome.

Her breath felt tight in her chest, even though she was breathing normally. Forcing herself to blink slowly, she gently said, "Why then?"

His face began to flush, but he kept his eyes on hers. "I, um...I came because...umm..." His face was steadily growing redder. The bright morning did him no favours in hiding that. He started to grow restless as he searched for words. One hand unconsciously fiddled with the hilt of his Tetsusaiga. "Well...you've been here for so long that I...um...well, it felt...it felt...empty."

Kagome's breathing froze for a split second as her face began to redden slightly as well. His golden eyes filled her sight, refusing to let her thoughts flow freely. Finally realizing her mouth was hanging open a bit, she closed it with a snap. He had actually said...well, as close to it as he possibly could, but... InuYasha had nearly said straight out that he...

'_He feels...lonely without me.'_ The thought echoed off the walls in her mind, only succeeding in making her flush even more until she was identical to InuYasha. For the first time ever, he had openly said that he missed her, that he felt lonely when she wasn't around. Usually he just grunted a hello at her return or came to get her without much explanation, but now..._You have been here for so long that it felt empty._

"Inu...Yasha..." Kagome stuttered. At long last he had said something. On her final day, he had given her the best gift anyone could ever give her. It was small, but it was more than she had ever dreamed of. Tears began to fog her eyes even more. "InuYasha..." she repeated, taking a small step closer to him, a smile beginning to beat its way onto her face, tears or no.

At last Kagome let herself fall into the hanyou's chest, her arms clinging to his back in a tight embrace. Burying her face into his haori, she let her tears run free. There may not be any time left for crying over her fate, but there was always time to cry over the loss of her hanyou. For this final, tiny bittersweet moment of affection from InuYasha, there was all the time in the world.

InuYasha seemed to be in shock for the first few seconds, but eventually his tensed position melted until he gently laid his arms on Kagome's back, accepting the embrace. "Kagome..." she heard him whisper, all the ice it had held earlier gone alike yesterday's clouds. Kagome sniffed while giving a light giggle over feeling guilty at getting his haori stained with tears. Her lips curved in a thankful smile, she closed her eyes, letting the warmth of strong arms envelop her.

How long had it been since they had last embraced like this? The last had been when InuYasha had first tried to force her to return to her time and never come back. He had held her in his arms only to steal the jewel shards she had and push her back down the well. That had been months ago, but it felt as if years had passed since that day.

"Thank you, InuYasha," she said, her voice muffled a bit from being buried in his haori. His worry for her, his desire to protect her was the greatest gift she could have ever received in her lifetime. It meant more to her than all the birthday presents, cards, cakes and smiles she'd ever been given. She'd never forget it, and she hoped he would never forget either.

"Kagome," he whispered again and his hold on her tightened. Warmth surrounded the two of them and for those few minutes, Naraku was dead, the jewel was completed and wished away, and all their other worries were over.

After a good long time passed, Kagome reopened her eyes. The warmth was still there, but now the realities of her fate were beginning to return. Sango, Miroku, and Shippou were all waiting for them to return. The plan had to start taking action or else it would be too late. In spite of this, Kagome's smile remained and no hint of tears could be seen any longer. Pulling away from InuYasha a bit, she lovingly looked up at his face.

"We should get back, InuYasha," she said, though her voice was cheerful. He held the same smile she felt on her own face. All the ice was gone now and hopefully it would not return.

He nodded and the two of them pulled apart, but each kept one hand clasped tightly on the other's hand. Kagome never wanted to let go. Carefully the two of them ambled down the hill and made through the narrow path between the tall forest trees that led to the village.

* * *

A/N: At last I've finished another chapter! Sorry for the wait. Hehe... Anyway, this chapter was initially going to be much longer, but after I wrote up to this point, I realized it would be much too long. So now it's split in two. The next chapter will be coming shortly. Oh yes and one more thing, I realized that I had to set a time period of when this happens in relation to the rest of the series (with all the memories they are recalling) so if case anyone was curious, this is probably taking place just after the battle with the Panther Tribe. Remember to review!


	7. A Leaving Gift

**Battle of the Shikon**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from InuYasha. But I do own this plot line, I suppose.

**Chapter 7: A Leaving Gift**

"So," Kagome said after a small breath. "What do you think?"

The air in the small hut was pleasantly warm, partly from the fire heating the tea kettle and partly from the comforting whisks of cool air seeping in from the edges of the door. The sun was high, just past its ten o'clock mark, and the sky had been cleaned from its racing clouds.

"I am very sorry to hear this news, Kagome," Myouga said with a melancholy expression. "But I must admit that I am impressed with it."

"I agree," Totosai added alongside the nomi youkai. Both blacksmith and youkai had the same contemplative looks on their faces alongside crossed arms and closed eyes. "But are you certain you can trust this Kagura of the Winds?"

Miroku gave a breath of exhaustion, but it was towards his own battling thoughts. "We cannot be as positive as we wish to be, but we do not have any other choice. Kagura has kept InuYasha's secret from Naraku and she has obviously made some sort of pack with Sesshoumaru. I do not know if she will keep the secret oath she gave to us, but Kagura did show her desire of being free from Naraku. It is not much, but it should be enough to trust her as far as we have." He gave a slow nod to the blacksmith, making the golden rings on the staff that balanced against his shoulder jingle.

"Still, it is a great risk we are taking. We do not know if Naraku ordered her to give us that oath to try and trick us into a trap again or if she did it on her own," Sango stated as she absent-mindedly smoothed the fur on Kirara's head, who was sitting in her lap with a purr. "She said she would not tell her betrayals and oaths to anyone, but that does not necessarily mean that Naraku does not already know."

"It is a necessary risk. If we don't trust her, then we cannot even begin our plan. We need her to lead us to Naraku's castle." Miroku stared at the tea kettle as if it was holding secrets from him. Just at that moment, it began to whistle loudly.

Kaede took the kettle off and began pouring steaming water into several cups. "And what of young Kouga of the Wolf Demon Tribe?"

"He's coming as well. He gave me a promise to fight alongside us the day before yesterday," Kagome explained.

"And the shards in his legs?" the elder woman added.

Kagome saddened slightly. "He will give them to me just before I am absorbed into Naraku. The shards need to be together for all of them to be reforged again."

"I see," Kaede mumbled softly. Carefully she handed each person a cup of tea. They sipped quietly, pensive expressions identical on each face.

There was nothing left to say by this point. The plan was laid out in plain black and white. It had been for several days already. Still, there were so many risks and dangers possible of shattering everything that they were taking. Kagura could betray them and allow Naraku to know of their secret. She could lead them to a false barrier and allow Naraku to attack before they knew. Naraku may kill Kagome from the start so she could not purify him. He may have created more incarnations or reformed his body to make himself stronger. Anything to slow them down from reaching their task. Any moment could spell disaster.

Kagome frowned deeply. She hated having to keep all this fear inside. She knew the others must have their doubts as well, but her end was coming so close that it felt as if her bones were trying to shrink as if trying to make her disappear. Would Kagura betray them? Everything was balanced on her loyalty. Everything, including the lives of her friends. Could she risk something like that? Kagome clenched her fingers around her cup. She would have to.

"Ah, Kagome, I've just remembered," Totosai said suddenly, looking up at her. All eyes were drawn up to him as he began rummaging inside his haori for something. Even Myouga watched, though he looked expectant.

Finally Totosai found whatever he had been looking for. Drawing it out, he revealed a small package wrapped with brown paper and string. A small white paper was attached to it, its black inked marks spelling Kagome's name. Totosai held it out to Kagome, waiting for her to take it.

Kagome blinked and reached out to accept the package. Placing it in her lap, she began to untie the strings. Once removed, she began unfolding the brown paper to reveal a magnificent gift. Her eyes opened wide at its sight and she heard Shippou gasp at it, leaning over her leg to get a closer look.

She had never seen a dagger like this one before. Beautifully crafted, its handle was elegantly curved with blue paint and a black characteristic engraved on one side reading "Farewell". Kagome pondered on that for a moment, but then moved on with her examination. The blade was even more majestic. Roughly twice as long as the handle, it was slender and had the strangest colour imaginable. Instead of the plain silver shine of steel, it was nearly see-through, almost like crystal. Kagome rolled it in her palm and the blade caught every reflection and light, doubling it and casting it away to make it appear as if it was glowing.

"Thank you so much, Totosai! It's beautiful!" Kagome exclaimed, eyes still turning over the dagger.

"There's no need to thank me, Kagome. I did not make it," the blacksmith replied. His face was stoic, but approving as if this had been the first time he had seen it as well.

Kagome raised her eyes to face Totosai. "But then, where is it from?" she asked. The others seemed to wish for an answer as well.

Totosai only shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you that, Kagome. All I can say is that you will need it and you will know when to use it," he answered in his gravelly, old voice.

Kagome blinked again and considered his words. She would need it? What for? And who was it from? Clearly Totosai did not wish to say anything else about it. Either that or he did not know himself. Dropping her eyes back to the dagger, she reread the character on the handle. _Farewell_. What could this mean? Totosai just said it was not from him so he obviously was not the one giving her a goodbye. Then who was telling her farewell? Who did they know that could acquire such a weapon besides the blacksmith? Either way, it was probably safe for her to have if Totosai gave it to her. She didn't sense any demonic energy and InuYasha would have spoken by now if it had had a demon scent attached to it. But then, where was it from?

When they had drank all the tea and filed out of the hut in preparation to leave, the time for their final farewells had come. Everyone had a sullen face of determination and disgruntlement as they gazed back at the road to the old forest and the rest of the village.

"Thank you so much for everything you've ever done for me, Kaede," Kagome said warmly, giving the elder woman a firm hug. "I'll never forget you." Sadness had begun to grip Kagome's heart for a final time. The cool air gently caressing her skin seemed to fit the strange atmosphere around them. There was a bitter taste in her mouth, but it seemed faint and distant, as if her mind was miles away from her body.

Kaede returned the embrace with just as much compassion. "You truly are my sister's reincarnate. I will pray for everyone's safe return, Kagome," she replied with a light in her eye. Strangely enough, 'everyone's safe return' seemed to imply Kagome's safe return as well. The young miko couldn't help her watering eyes and the wide smile she gave. After they released one another, Kagome turned to Totosai and Myouga. She opened her mouth to speak, but the nomi youkai piped up first.

"Good luck, Kagome! Take care of Master InuYasha for me!" Myouga stated with a smile as he sat on Totosai's shoulder.

Kagome blinked at him in surprise. "But, Myouga, I thought you were coming with us?" She stared at the demon as if disappointed.

Myouga's eyes shot wide and sweat began rolling down his head. "Well, I am…uh, that is. I-I'm very sorry Kagome, but I…you see, I can't because I…have to…"

Kagome wasn't even listening by this point. She, along with the others, were too busy laughing at the babblings of the small demon. Thoroughly confused, Myouga watched with fearful anxiety in his eyes.

"Oh, Myouga. We never expected you to come. Kagome's just playing a joke on you," Sango explained after the laughs calmed down. Smiling at the demon, Kagome nodded in agreement.

Myouga stared at them for a moment before nearly collapsing. Wiping his bald forehead with the back of his sleeve, he gave out a nervous chuckle. "Ah, yes, of course. But you must understand that if I just hadn't been so terribly busy, I would have already offered to come along," he said with a hopeful grin.

Kagome smiled with sympathetic nods before turning to Totosai. "Thank you again for the dagger, Totosai. Please thank whoever gave it to you for me." She gave a small bow to the elder.

Totosai took it all in with his own head bow. "Not to worry, Kagome. You just be careful and remember to use it. Oh and Kagome," he said with a toothy grin. "Watch out for InuYasha. Knowing him, he'll probably try to save you from Naraku at the last moment, eh?" Laughing loudly, he did not notice InuYasha's death glare or the fist rising up above his head.

After a bang, Totosai's laughter was as silent and impassive as the lump on his head. "I suppose we should get going now. Don't you think so, Myouga?"

"Yes, I think so," Myouga replied with a serious face.

Swallowing her giggle, Kagome watched them remount the three-eyed cow demon. The two turned in their seats for a final wave and a wish for good luck. Returning their waves, the group watched the cow demon take flight with white clouds at its hooves. Winds pushed at them, but they remained steady as they went higher and higher until they were only a speck in the sky.

It was harder to sustain balance while so high up, but years of flying had made them immune to it. Myouga, busy looking back at the ground, had a thoughtful look planted on his face. "I wonder if their plan will actually work," he pondered aloud.

"I think it will," Totosai answered, eyes staring straight ahead. "But I'm surprised InuYasha didn't seem as angry as I thought he would be. Kagome probably had to work very hard to calm him down."

"Indeed," Myouga agreed quietly. Turning back around, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes in concentration. "By the way, Totosai, I'm surprised that you had to lie about where you got that dagger from. Though I am impressed at its craftsmanship. How did you make it?"

"I didn't lie, Myouga. Someone gave it to me," he answered, avoiding eye-contact with the youkai.

Myouga blinked at him. "Really? Who?"

Totosai remained silent for a moment. Frowning, he answered, "I cannot tell you."

Myouga frowned as well, but did not question him any further. Still turning it around in his mind, Myouga suddenly grew apprehensive as Totosai began to mutter something softly. The wind carried most of it away, but the youkai did manage to catch, "…wonder why she wanted me to give it to Kagome…" She? The person who gave it to him was a woman? How strange. Totosai didn't seem to be the kind of man that knew many women. Then again, what kind of woman trusted an old youkai-serving blacksmith? Especially one with eyes protruding out of his head? Frowning, Myouga continued to pick at the puzzle.

Down on the ground on the path leaving Kaede's village, the group were pacing down the road with faces of steel and melancholy determination. The only sound was the heavy footsteps of a transformed Kirara and the golden rings of Miroku's staff. Besides that, each person had brooding looks planted firmly on their faces while turned down to the gravel before their feet.

"How are we going to contact Kagura?" Sango suddenly asked, looking up at Miroku. The others stopped their walk and turned to look at her, surprise clear.

Miroku furrowed his brow in thought. "I'm not sure. I'm not very familiar with oaths such as the one Kagura gave us," he answered uncertainly. Looking at InuYasha and Shippou, who sat on Kagome's shoulder, he asked, "Would you know if that oath grants some sort of summoning link between the master and servant? I'm sure it would not work with humans, but perhaps something happens with demons…?"

"Feh," InuYasha grunted, crossing his arms. "How should I know? I've never given an oath like that."

'_No kidding,'_ Kagome thought sarcastically, though it ended in a brief grin. Looking at Shippou, Kagome said, "How about you, Shippou? Do you know anything about it?"

With a frown the kitsune youkai shook his head sadly. "Nope, none." After a moment, he suddenly raised his finger to his chin in memory. "Oh wait. I think I remember my father once talking about this oath. A lesser mouse demon that wanted his protection from some villagers gave it to him a long time ago," he said slowly, trying to pick out the details from the vague recollection. "I think my father said something about the master having to 'call' the servant, or something…" He trailed off to scratch his head.

"Well? Which is it?" InuYasha demanded impatiently.

Face puffing up in annoyance, Shippou glared back at the hanyou. "Don't rush me. I'm trying," he retorted. InuYasha glared heavily at him, which spooked Shippou back to his memory. "Um…I think he said the master has to call out the servants name and concentrate on what they want in their mind."

Kagome nodded in understanding. "Okay then. InuYasha?" Looking to the surprised hanyou, she blinked as she waited for him to start.

"What? Why do I have to do it?" he questioned defensively.

"Because when she gave us the oath, she named you first. So I guess that makes you the main leader," Kagome explained. "Go on," she urged.

Grumbling, InuYasha looked at Sango and Miroku as if hoping they would volunteer instead. Neither moved or blinked. Finally the hanyou growled and turned from each of them to gaze into the forests. Pausing for a moment, he seemed to be trying to concentrate his mind on summoning Kagura to them. Then, clenching his fists and holding himself as if readying for a battle, he closed his eyes angrily and took a breath. Raising his chin, he loudly called out, "Kagura!" in a voice of thick irritation. It was more a voice of challenge than calling a servant to stand. Not only that, but the unspoken "get your stupid self over here" seemed to ring in the air.

A wind tossed itself through them, but as soon as it passed, everything was silent. They waited, but they could see no movement, no mounted feather speeding towards them. InuYasha glared at the skies as if suspicious that Kagura was simply hiding. Minutes rolled by until the attempt had obviously been exhausted. Turning to see the others, InuYasha shook his head angrily. "Well? What now?"

Miroku frowned in thought. "Hm…perhaps InuYasha's summon wasn't enough. Kagura did name all of us her masters, so maybe we all have to call her." He looked to Sango and Kagome, who were nodded in comprehension.

InuYasha, however, was not thrilled with the houshi's thought. Glaring at him he crudely growled, "You figure that out now, after I go and make a fool of myself, monk?"

Miroku simply ignored the irritated hanyou and continued with, "Right then. We should try it together. Ready, InuYasha?" An annoyed growl was the answer.

"Come on, InuYasha. We need to work together to do this. We've already wasted enough time. Now let's go," Kagome insisted, giving him a firm, though pleading look. InuYasha watched her for a moment with a contemplating look, but then finally gave a low, "Feh," and turned to the forest once again. Kagome grinned and turned to the woods as well.

Once all of them were facing the distant trees, faces hard with concentration on the summoning call of the demon oath, they unanimously called out, "Kagura!" in a swift, strong voice. The air rang with her name while the wind seemed to scramble to grab the name as it rushed past them. It rustled their hair and clothes and made Miroku's staff jingle like a collection of bells.

Moments creaked by, then minutes and soon their determined gazes melted into tired disappointment. How had it not worked? They had all worked together and concentrated on what they wanted, but then where was Kagura? Kagome sighed and shifted the straps of her backpack as it hung off her shoulders alongside her bow and arrow. "Now what do we do?" she asked no one in particular.

InuYasha growled again. "Damn that stupid demon! How are we supposed to do anything if she doesn't show herself already?" he ranted as he turned from the forest. Settling his eyes on Shippou, he opened his mouth to lash out at the small youkai again when suddenly he froze. Almost immediately after, he grimaced harshly and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

"You smell him coming, don't you InuYasha?" Kagome asked with a half-grin. When the hanyou gave an expression that showed his desire to spit as if he had swallowed something disgusting, Kagome sighed and turned to the South-West path. "Kouga's coming," she explained to the others without looking at them. "I can sense his jewel shards approaching."

"Why does that filthy wolf have to come anyway?" InuYasha complained, arms crossed before his chest in sulking resentment.

Kagome sighed. "He promised to help us, InuYasha. You should be thankful; we need all the help we can get," she insisted, though it did not do much to soften the hanyou's disgruntlement. No sooner had her words left her lips when she turned to see a distant whirlwind speeding towards them. Birds that sat along the ground pecking at grubs took frightened flight as he approached. Soon a tendril of wind was pushing against the group until it suddenly vanished along with the whirlwind. In its place stood a tall wolf youkai dressed in furs and black armor with black hair tied back in a high tail.

Kagome opened her mouth to greet him, but Kouga matched the speed of the shards in his legs as he sped past InuYasha and clasped Kagome's hands in his own. Looking into her face with green eyes full of compassion, he began in an affectionately warm voice. "Kagome, I hoped that you would have given up your plan, but it seems that you are going on with it. If only I---," a sudden growling roar cut him off short.

"Get your hands off her, you scrawny wolf!" InuYasha had a glaring look of walking death on his face as he bared his fangs and claws at the wolf. Luckily Miroku was holding back the hanyou's wielding arm, keeping him from drawing the Tetsusaiga. "I told you to stop---!"

"InuYasha."

The hanyou froze in mid-sentence as if suddenly struck by lightning. All eyes turned to Kagome, who was holding a surprisingly stoic face and was watching InuYasha with the heart of tranquility in her straight stature. If not for the almost comical situation of her hands being held by a wolf demon clan leader, she would have seemed the mirror image of Kikyou, regal and commanding.

"Just this once, okay InuYasha?" And with that, her impassive gaze melted and was replaced with a cheerful smile, though still locked on the awed hanyou.

All the rest of them could do was gawk at the young miko as she grinned at the silver-haired half-demon. Even Kouga stared at her with surprise, though his was triumphant and gleeful, but also mocking at his defeated enemy. "Haha, stupid mutt," he taunted, "I get Kago--"

"Kouga," the young miko interrupted again. Immediately the youkai fell silent and smiled down at her with patience mixed with eagerness clear in his bright expression. This, however, began to loosen in surprise when all of a sudden Kagome started to pull her hands from his. InuYasha was nearly rejoicing in delight, but this also ended in a quick moment as Kagome took a step forward and hugged the youkai tightly. Suddenly the group was standing in an opera house as Kouga sported a gleefully conquering grin while InuYasha wore a look of utter terror and fury.

"Thank you for everything, Kouga. And thank you for helping us out with this. I can see you don't want to let me do this, but you understand that I must. That means a lot to me," she said happily as she hugged him, seemingly unaware of the steam rushing out of InuYasha's ears.

Kouga, still wearing the smile, returned the hug with an obvious opinion that it meant more than the friendship thanks that Kagome had intended. "Don't mention it, Kagome. I'd do anything for you, you know that," he answered, looking down at her turned head with fondness clear. Slowly it started to melt into sadness, and although he hadn't said anything, his thoughts were obvious. "If only I could protect you from this. I doubt that idiot mutt will…" The rest of his words were lost amid the incredibly loud growl that rolled from InuYasha's throat alongside his cracking knuckles. Kouga turned to glare at the hanyou, but suddenly replaced it with a gloating grin of mockery.

'_I suppose that will have to be enough, or else InuYasha will wear his throat out soon,'_ Kagome thought with a silent giggle. Pulling back from Kouga, she smiled at him happily before adding, "Thank you, Kouga. I really appreciate it."

"Alright, alright, that's enough," InuYasha barked, finally tired of waiting. Coming closer, he shoved himself between them with his back to Kagome as if protecting her from Kouga. Kagome couldn't help her giggle at his actions, though she did cover her mouth with one hand. "We have a damn demon to find, we can't spend all day listening to your sappy babbling," he growled.

Kouga glared at him at first but then something seemed to come to his attention. Blinking in surprise, he said, "You have a demon to find? What do you mean?" Suddenly understanding washed over his face. "You mean you _still_ haven't found Naraku?" He threw his hand to his head in exhausted disbelief. "I can't believe how pathetic you are, mutt! What's the point of all of this if you don't even know where---!"

"Shut up, you flea-bitten wolf!" InuYasha shot back, eyes glowing in anger. "We aren't looking for Naraku, we're looking for Kagura!"

Kouga stared at him with confusion. "Kagura? What does she have to do with anything?"

"She---" InuYasha began but was cut off by Miroku. "She is going to lead us to Naraku's castle, Kouga," he explained with a serious face. The wolf switched his gaze from the hanyou to the houshi, but his astonishment did not falter.

"WHAT?" he hollered in fury. "You're going to trust that witch? What on earth are you thinking! That woman killed my comrades and you're _trusting_ her? She's an incarnate of Naraku, for heaven's sake!"

Miroku frowned in thought as he lightly nodded. "We understand that, Kouga, but we have no choice. She gave us a blood oath of servitude so it should be safe to trust. Either way, she is our only lead to Naraku. We can't do anything without her."

Kouga shook his head in skepticism before turning to Kagome. "Kagome, is this true?" he said, not particularly icily but not pleased either.

Kagome, who had lost her cheerful smile, nodded confirmation in serious expression. "It's our only choice, Kouga. Kagura promised to serve us faithfully and she has already shown that she wants to be free from Naraku. If she wanted that, she would not betray us to Naraku. Please, you must understand that this is the only way." Pleading eyes nodding to the youkai, she waited for his reply.

Eyes angry and searching, as if trying to find another way, Kouga pondered heavily. He shifted his gaze from time to time and his tail twitched uncertainly, but apparently he was exhausted of comebacks. Just as he was about to open his mouth to reply, something distracted both him and InuYasha at the same time. Both looked up past Kagome's head towards the sky.

Kagome blinked at the pair of them and turned to see what they were looking at. There in the far distance was a small speck that was quickly growing larger. Closer it came until finally it was recognizable as a floating feather with someone perched on its back. Kagura had finally reached them. Kagome felt a strange wave of emotion go through her; relief mixed with surprise and some regret. She was glad that the beginning of the battle was finally coming, yet at the same time, the prospect was saddening. Her moment of duty was quickly drawing closer.

"Of course," Miroku muttered as he watched the mounted figure come closer. "It would be difficult to escape Naraku's presence without him growing suspicious. Kagura must have felt our call, but was forced to wait until she was set free again." Sango nodded her agreement.

"Damn that witch," Kouga growled before turning to Kagome. "Alright, Kagome. I'll go along with this if that's what you want, but if this turns out to be a trap, I'm going to get you away from there, no matter what the mutt says."

"Watch it, wolf," InuYasha growled hotly.

Ignoring him, Kouga continued. "I'm not going to let Naraku kill you, Kagome. If he knows about us, then I wouldn't put it past him to kill you on the spot. If this is a trap, I'm taking you away no matter what you say. Alright?"

What could she say? Part of what Kouga said made sense that Naraku's knowledge of their plan would almost guarantee their defeat, so perhaps it would be best to retreat if it turned out to be an ambush. That way they could gain a little more time and gather up another plan. Setting her gaze back to Kagura, Kagome answered, "Alright, Kouga. I think that would be best."

Kouga nodded and looked back towards the demoness as well. By now her hard expression was clear as well as her red youkai eyes that seemed to hold much more thought and worry than had been present the last time they had met.

* * *

A/N: Didn't think I'd finish this chapter did ya? lol This took a reeally long time to make, but mostly because I'm such a lazy bum. Sorry for the long wait and hopefully I'll keep working at this until it's finished. Please remember to review this chapter! The more reviews I get, the more inclined I'll feel to begin the next chapter. Hehe… Anyway, hoped you liked it and thanks for reading! 


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